tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91533400026784996412018-03-05T14:24:14.747-08:00EMDCLocal Connections - Global DifferenceGeorge Ballnoreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-66153679026103780002014-04-06T08:58:00.001-07:002014-04-06T08:58:23.212-07:00Combating Human Trafficking through Business: Annie Hilton and Freeset<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Gta2883rOqI" width="640"></iframe><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><h3><i><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">"There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires"</span></i></h3><h3><i><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><div style="text-align: right;"><i>~ Nelson Mandela</i></div></span></i></h3><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In 2001 <b>Kerry &amp; Annie Hilton</b> founded Freeset Bags &amp; Apparel as a means to provide alternative employment and economic freedom to women who were victims of India’s notorious sex trade. Operating in Sonagacchi, India’s largest red-light district, Freeset has enabled ~200 women to escape debt, servitude and social exclusion and brought light to the issue across the world.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Today, Freeset is excited to take the next step and use sustainable businesses to bring economic freedom to the heartland of India. Attendees learned about what has been done thus far and what is possible for the future!</span><a href="http://dardenemdc.blogspot.com/2014/02/sustainable-investing-perspectives-from.html" target="_blank">.</a><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jBPv0vXma3Y/U0F5iBoW-FI/AAAAAAAAAjw/zbdgQtUajY0/s1600/freeset1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jBPv0vXma3Y/U0F5iBoW-FI/AAAAAAAAAjw/zbdgQtUajY0/s1600/freeset1.jpg" height="259" width="640" /></a></div></div></div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-59058815453948940662014-02-24T21:28:00.001-08:002014-02-24T21:28:06.161-08:00Discussing Sustainable Investing: What is It?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ECCPD_B1xWg?rel=0" width="640"></iframe></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h3><i><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">"We need to defend the interests of those whom we've never met and never will"</span></i></h3><h3><i><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><div style="text-align: right;"><i>~ Jeffrey Sachs</i></div></span></i></h3>We were fortunate to host Bruno Bertocci (Managing Director at UBS Americas) and Bennett Freeman (VP for Sustainability Research at Calvert Investment) this February at a speaking event at Darden. The event was attend by a broad group of students and diverse faculty, as well as leaders on sustainability at Darden.<br /><br />Both men shared unique perspectives and provided a historical context for the rise of sustainability. In so doing, they also informed its growth and where they see sustainable investing heading next.<br /><br />For more background on the event and to read the bios of both speakers, please see our <a href="http://dardenemdc.blogspot.com/2014/02/sustainable-investing-perspectives-from.html" target="_blank">event announcement.</a><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UQEGZRZG_L4/UwwpD5HHeVI/AAAAAAAAAjg/95geZTgaSMI/s1600/Screengrab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UQEGZRZG_L4/UwwpD5HHeVI/AAAAAAAAAjg/95geZTgaSMI/s1600/Screengrab.jpg" height="110" width="200" /></a></div></div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-6966625553713890892014-02-21T09:58:00.000-08:002014-02-24T20:29:50.645-08:00Darden Student Profiles: Lighting up Rural Africa with the Sun King<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Last year, I sat in on a speech by&nbsp;</span><a href="http://redwardfreeman.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #bf1414; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #990000;">Ed Freeman</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">&nbsp;where he shared about how to discover&nbsp;</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Inspiration</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">. A particularly important point he made is to look for inspiration among those around us. For Ed, inspiration came from within his family.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">As we think about the Darden Family, it seemed appropriate to look for inspiration within&nbsp;</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><i>our</i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">&nbsp;family. With that in mind, I'm excited to introduce Prashant Kumar to share a bit about his story.</span><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">-&nbsp;<b><i>CJ</i></b>&nbsp;(EMDC President)</div><br style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><div style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">*********************</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><div style="color: #606060;"><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o8mqsdOWk8g/UvmMKdy9y7I/AAAAAAAAAg4/PpvbVFnLFl0/s1600/PrashantKumar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o8mqsdOWk8g/UvmMKdy9y7I/AAAAAAAAAg4/PpvbVFnLFl0/s1600/PrashantKumar.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div><b>Student:&nbsp;</b>Prashant Kumar</div><div style="color: #606060;"><i>Deputy General Manager</i></div><div><b><u><a href="http://www.solar.com.ng/" target="_blank">Simba Solar</a></u></b></div><div style="color: #606060;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060;"><b><i>Prashant, you completed an MS in Electrical Engineering from UPenn in May 2010. While most of your peers pursued opportunities in the US with established firms, you moved to Nigeria to join Simba Solar.</i></b><br /><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal"><h3><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;"><i>You had never been to Africa, so what made you move to Nigeria to pursue such a unique opportunity?</i></span></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">My UPenn experience was a great turning point in my life. It went beyond just helping me develop my technical skills and actually gave me opportunities to build useful, innovative products. It made me realize that I can use my knowledge to build products and businesses that could have a transformative effect on society. It is at this point that I met a couple of HBS grads who were directors at the African conglomerate Simba Group and had spun off the renewable energy company, Simba Solar. Despite being at a nascent stage Simba Solar had a vision that appealed to me greatly. They wanted to make clean energy accessible to the common man in an energy-deficient continent. Also, Africa with all its challenges, presented great growth opportunities. I really felt that I could use my knowledge to create real impact here, which is why I decided to move to Nigeria. </span></div></div></div></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><h3><i><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;">How was adapting to life in Nigeria? What was difficult and what was easy?</span></i></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">I had concerns about safety, having heard multiple stories about foreigners facing incidents like kidnapping, theft, police harassment, etc. Also, I had no prior acquaintance here. So, initially, I found it challenging to adjust to the new environment. Particularly having lived in metropolitan cities all my life, the idea of having no electricity for 8 hours a day, was very disturbing. However, this further stimulated my motivation to bring about a solution to the energy problem here. Besides, I realized that the Nigerian people were extremely welcoming and nice. This helped me get attuned to the new environment and within no time, I felt that I was a Nigerian myself. </span><br /><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gd5UIuq3aoQ?rel=0" width="640"></iframe></div><div style="color: #606060;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><h3><span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>In 2011 you were part of the launch of the 'Sun King' Solar Lanterns in partnership with Greenlight Planet. What needs did you see and why did a solar lantern make sense?</i></span></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">It all started in December of 2010. I was on vacation from work and used this opportunity to travel across Nigeria from Lagos in the south to Kano in the north. I stopped at a local village called Moba where I saw first-hand the poor electricity situation across the country. I noticed how harmful kerosene lanterns were the only source of lighting for millions of low-income Nigerian houses. These lanterns were toxic, unsafe and costly with a recurring fuel cost. On doing some further research, I realized that more people lose their lives due to the kerosene lantern toxic fumes than tuberculosis and malaria combined. So, I really felt the need to serve this large segment consisting of 100 Million people.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">I had read about solar lanterns earlier and envisioned it to be a feasible solution. Also, Nigeria is blessed with an abundance of solar energy. So, solar energy made complete sense here. One more thing that I drew analogy was the telecom revolution. Even though Africa lagged behind in deploying telecom lines, the tremendous growth of mobile technologies had occluded the need to go in that direction. Similarly, Nigeria lagged behind in deploying transmission infrastructure to deliver electricity throughout the country. So, a decentralized solution like solar energy made complete sense in such a situation. However, the challenge was to make solar energy affordable to the masses.</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><h3><i><span style="color: #b45f06;">How did you convince the company to pursue this new product line? Were there any steps you took that were critical in selling your idea to management?</span></i></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060;"><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3CEzXTbWgl8/UvU-hm7V0DI/AAAAAAAAAfw/AtksOC2roZ0/s1600/pro.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3CEzXTbWgl8/UvU-hm7V0DI/AAAAAAAAAfw/AtksOC2roZ0/s1600/pro.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3CEzXTbWgl8/UvU-hm7V0DI/AAAAAAAAAfw/AtksOC2roZ0/s1600/pro.png" height="200" width="130" /></a><span style="color: #666666;"></span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #666666;">Firstly, I pitched the idea to the Board by showing how it is in alignment with company’s vision of providing clean energy to the masses. I also led a market analysis, which suggested that this is a 1.3 Billion dollar market and we had the opportunity to gain first mover advantage here. Besides, the positive publicity that Simba as a Group will garner by engaging in this great initiative was a big motivating factor for the Board to go ahead.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">To reduce our risks, I proposed the Board to start with a pilot of 1000 solar lanterns. This would also allow us to test-market our product and make any product design changes based on customer feedback. This helped convince the Board and I got the go-ahead for the project.</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span> <br /><div class="MsoNormal"><h3><i><span style="color: #b45f06;">What challenges did you face in the design and distribution of the solar lantern? Did you realize the economic returns and social impact you expected?</span></i></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">I faced 2 major challenges:</span><br /><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #666666;">Firstly, most of my target customers were the Base-of-the-Pyramid or BoP segment, which means they lived on less than $2 a day. So, any product which would replace the kerosene lantern had to be extremely cheap as well as superior. Solar energy was not considered for the masses then and I had to ensure our product is viable to the masses.</span></li><li><span style="color: #666666;">Secondly, since 90% of our target customers were rural, there were no existing distribution channels to reach them. No mainstream Nigerian company had targeted the rural BoP segment earlier because of the poor rural infrastructure and the low margins; hence BoP was a neglected segment.&nbsp;</span></li></ul><br /><span style="color: #666666;">To overcome the first challenge, I decided to partner with a China based manufacturing company because of their low-cost manufacturing capabilities. Our market-research revealed that the product would need to supersede the kerosene lantern in parameters like illumination, lighting-time, durability and portability. Also, it had to be priced less than $20 to achieve traction in market. This is because kerosene lanterns were priced at $2 and had a recurring kerosene cost of around $6 a month. So, $20 product would pay back in 3 months and by creating credit facilities, we could push the product. So, after 2 months of collaborative R&amp;D between our technical team and our partners, we developed a high-quality product within the pricing constraints. However, before mass-production, I decided to test-market the product and, releasing 1000 lanterns in February 2011. Using feedback, we were able to further fine-tune the product and get the retail price down to $18.&nbsp; </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mob40FMvfyQ/UvU8RhFmVTI/AAAAAAAAAfo/2u_erGFK-48/s1600/tumblr_malzk1tJoK1rf2ciqo1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mob40FMvfyQ/UvU8RhFmVTI/AAAAAAAAAfo/2u_erGFK-48/s1600/tumblr_malzk1tJoK1rf2ciqo1_1280.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">With the product ready, I decided to target 3 segments: rural Base-of-the-Pyramid, low-income urban and institutions like Ministries, NGOs, etc. and developed separate strategies for each segment. My reasoning was to diversify our risk across channels. I then delegated the execution of these to 8 experienced sales managers and their teams and monitored their progress. However, with the BoP – the key audience for the product, I faced tremendous challenges in distribution. I realized we needed to create a separate distribution channel which would be cost-intensive, but would give us a sustainable competitive advantage. So, I brainstormed with my team to strategize building a direct-selling channel with an external sales force of door-to-door, entrepreneurial-distributors. This ensured us access to the remotest villages and allowed even the BoP segment to buy on credit. To accomplish this, I had to motivate my team to identify and develop entrepreneurs. We organized aggressive marketing activities including the use of Social Media channels. I personally appeared on national television, coached at Nigeria’s nation development program NYSC and collaborated with Lighting Africa, which is a World Bank and IFC program to raise awareness about generating employment through solar energy distribution.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">Consequently, we were able to grow monthly sales by 500% within 6 months and establish first-mover advantage in this $1.3 Billion segment. On the social side, this meant providing clean affordable lighting to around 100000 low-income households in the first year, while simultaneously creating 100 young entrepreneurs in the process. Successfully leading such an impact-creating project was the best validation of my decision to move to Nigeria.</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><h3><i><span style="color: #b45f06;">Since Simba Solar, you've been an entrepreneur and helped found a social media analytics company in India. What do you hope to do after Darden?</span></i></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">During my time at Simba, I managed 4 successful product lines, out of which I had launched 3 of them. I feel I have been able to achieve the impact on market and society through these businesses and also gained the confidence and skill-sets to start my own business. I was always fascinated by social media. Even at Simba Solar, we were early adopters and used social media heavily not only for marketing, but customer service and distributor-generation as well. In this new decade, the amazing growth of social media had revolutionized company-consumer relationship and I saw a great opportunity in this space.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">So, in March 2012, I co-founded Mirc Media, which is a social media analytics services provider. We basically mine data from conversations on the social web to help Fortune 500 brands derive actionable insights and formulate data-driven marketing and branding strategies. This got me interested in consulting and I liked the idea of solving high-impact problems for Fortune 500 companies. It was my motivation behind coming to Darden, especially given Darden’s rigorous case-study based curriculum. I hope to work in management consulting after Darden and gain the business skill-sets to start my own business somewhere down the line. At this point, I am just enjoying my Darden experience and looking forward to the tremendous opportunities that Darden opens for me in the future. </span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="color: #606060;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #606060; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;">*****************</span></div><div style="color: #606060;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YbKVh-4Ppj0/UvmMciT1qAI/AAAAAAAAAhA/whXCePOYjqs/s1600/Prasky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YbKVh-4Ppj0/UvmMciT1qAI/AAAAAAAAAhA/whXCePOYjqs/s1600/Prasky.jpg" height="150" width="150" /></a></div><span style="color: #1f497d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Prashant Kumar grew up in Mumbai, India and studied Electronics Engineering from the University of Mumbai. He then moved to the US to complete an MS in Electrical Engineering. Embarking on an eventful journey since then, which includes working at a solar energy firm in Nigeria, Africa to co-founding a social media analytics firm in India, life has come a full circle for him having moved back to the US to pursue an MBA at Darden. He is a passionate Arsenal fan and like a true Gunner, he is always ready for a beer or two over a game of soccer!&nbsp;</span></span><br /><div style="color: #606060;"></div></div></div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-65264791282166106432014-02-17T16:12:00.001-08:002014-02-17T16:12:35.230-08:00Crossing Borders: Rethinking International Development<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">Crossing Borders: Rethinking International Development</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><i>Mon, Feb 24th @ 9:00 am - 5:00 pm - Law School</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P59TswnRRyU/UwKixp155lI/AAAAAAAAAi8/0B5-UOUw0Xs/s1600/s14_jbmoore_final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P59TswnRRyU/UwKixp155lI/AAAAAAAAAi8/0B5-UOUw0Xs/s1600/s14_jbmoore_final.jpg" height="200" width="125" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px;">Given our rapidly developing world, it is important to bring together students, academics, and practitioners to discuss the implications of international development efforts on effective governance, human rights, and business interests. The symposium will feature four panels: <b>Anti-Corruption and Democratic Governance</b>; <b>Measuring Success</b>: <b>Human Rights, Development Projects, and Stakeholders</b>; <b>International Finance in Emerging Markets</b>; and I<b>nvestor-State Arbitration</b>. Panelists include professors from across the nation as well as attorneys from the United States Agency for International Development and some of the nation's top international law firms.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L7-l9PxNVf8/UwKkDIFevXI/AAAAAAAAAjI/gTrX0MjXoxM/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L7-l9PxNVf8/UwKkDIFevXI/AAAAAAAAAjI/gTrX0MjXoxM/s1600/Capture.JPG" height="440" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-90337670830831035812014-02-16T09:06:00.000-08:002014-02-16T09:06:21.360-08:00Sustainable Investing: Perspectives from UBS Americas and Calvert Investments<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0CcjPRxwMc4/UwDuYzyqLyI/AAAAAAAAAic/sNGhS2rWl0s/s1600/SusInvBanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0CcjPRxwMc4/UwDuYzyqLyI/AAAAAAAAAic/sNGhS2rWl0s/s1600/SusInvBanner.jpg" height="188" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">The NEW Paradigm in Asset Management:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><i>CR 130 - Wed, Feb 19th @ 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px;">Sustainable investing is one of the fastest growing fields today, with </span><b><span style="color: #b45f06;">$3 trillion</span></b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px;"> in assets already under management. As mainstream investors increasingly seek to invest in such funds, the demand for seasoned practitioners is going to grow.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px;">Join us for lunch and hear from <b>Bruno Bertocci</b> and <b>Bennett Freeman </b>about how investors are reacting to this potentially radical market change </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-large;"><b>BRUNO BERTOCCI</b></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R3MzjKdQh38/UwDvETCxDoI/AAAAAAAAAik/H8pnzw_UNoI/s1600/Bruno+Bertocci.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R3MzjKdQh38/UwDvETCxDoI/AAAAAAAAAik/H8pnzw_UNoI/s1600/Bruno+Bertocci.bmp" height="200" width="133" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px;">Bruno Bertocci is a Managing Director and the lead portfolio manager at UBS Global Asset Management (Americas) Inc. of the top‐performing Global Sustainable Equity strategy, an all‐cap positive screening global equity portfolio. Prior to joining UBS, Bertocci worked at Stein Roe &amp; Farnham, Rockefeller &amp; Co. and T. Rowe Price Associates. He has earned a B.A. from Oberlin College and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-large;"><b>BENNETT FREEMAN</b></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tMEbYN-x8s4/UwDvbvMCiEI/AAAAAAAAAis/VLhvBdGn-pY/s1600/Bennett+Freeman.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tMEbYN-x8s4/UwDvbvMCiEI/AAAAAAAAAis/VLhvBdGn-pY/s1600/Bennett+Freeman.bmp" height="200" width="142" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px;">Bennett Freeman is the Senior Vice President for Sustainability Research and Policy at Calvert Investments where he leads the environmental, social and governance analysis, shareholder advocacy and public policy work of the largest family of sustainable and responsible (SRI) mutual funds in the U.S with over $12 billion assets under management. Freeman has served as a presidential appointee in three positions at the U.S. Department of State in the Clinton Administration. He earned an M.A. in Modern History from the University of Oxford and an A.B. from the University of California at Berkeley.</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px;"><i>Hosted in partnership with Net Impact and Darden Capital Management</i></span></span></div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-74575383275095100232014-02-12T08:24:00.003-08:002014-02-12T08:24:48.549-08:00BBSF Conference: Disruption by Design<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U1LCBz0N3ds/Uvqz7NFiEcI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/EDKdGBAkGos/s1600/Disruption+by+Design.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U1LCBz0N3ds/Uvqz7NFiEcI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/EDKdGBAkGos/s1600/Disruption+by+Design.jpg" height="182" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Disruption by Design</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Leading Change through Disruptive Thinking</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444;">We have an awesome program planned, including a design-thinking workshop facilitated by </span><b style="color: #444444;">Jeanne Liedtka</b><span style="color: #444444;"> and co-sponsored by the Darden Business Innovation &amp; Design Club! After learning skills that can be used to increase our disruptive presence, </span><b style="color: #444444;">Kimberly Campbell</b><span style="color: #444444;"> (D’ 04), Manager of Innovation &amp; Business Development at Weight Watchers, will lead us through a real-time case on disruption and provide an opportunity to flex our newly minted disruptive muscles. Our conference keynote is </span><b style="color: #444444;">Daryn Dodson</b><span style="color: #444444;"> – Venture Consultant for </span><a href="http://www.calvert.com/sri-special-equities.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>Calvert Group’s Special Equities Program</b></span></a><a href="http://www.calvert.com/sri-special-equities.html" style="color: #444444;" target="_blank">.</a><span style="color: #444444;"> Daryn also serves on the board of directors for Ben &amp; Jerry’s and is part of the leadership team of</span><a href="http://hubdconline.org/about/" target="_blank"> <span style="color: #990000;"><b>Impact Hub DC</b></span></a><span style="color: #990000;">,</span><span style="color: #444444;"> a business incubator and idea lab for change agents seeking to impact the world.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444;">Attendance is limited to 120 participants and we are expecting to fill up quickly, so make sure you sign up now! Please register<b> </b></span><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&amp;formkey=dDZZLVN3OV9YWjVrXzM1X3JrcUc0eGc6MA" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>here</b></span></a><span style="color: #444444;">. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;">*************</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>Daryn Dodson</b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><i><b>Venture Consultant, Calvert Group; Board of Directors, Ben &amp; Jerry's</b></i></span></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hU-4N0g1kNo/Uvq2nlrmnLI/AAAAAAAAAhc/qvQTxXx5MiA/s1600/12873-1377721096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hU-4N0g1kNo/Uvq2nlrmnLI/AAAAAAAAAhc/qvQTxXx5MiA/s1600/12873-1377721096.jpg" height="200" style="cursor: move;" width="185" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">Daryn Dodson advises companies, foundations and universities on impact investments. He currently co-leads the Special Equities Program at Calvert Funds. Through this program, Calvert has invested more than $69 million in impact investing funds and companies. Post Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Dodson served as Director of University and Corporate Partnership for the Idea Village, where he created a platform engaging leading private equity firms, business schools, and Fortune 500 companies to invest more than 50,000 hours and $2 million into New Orleans entrepreneurs. Prior to New Orleans, he built a coalition of national banks and faith-based institutions to educate Congress on reforms needed to stabilize the subprime lending market with Self-Help Credit Union. Mr. Dodson currently serves as a Board Director for Ben and Jerry’s, Stanford Business Alumni and Impact Hub DC. He earned a MBA from Stanford and an AB in Public Policy from Duke University.</span></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>Jeanne Liedtka</b></span></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><i style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>Faculty ; Author, Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Toolkit for Managers</b></i></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OD1Z2cDdCJU/Uvq3yMZrlYI/AAAAAAAAAho/LU2ZYJboZnE/s1600/Jeanne+Leidtka.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OD1Z2cDdCJU/Uvq3yMZrlYI/AAAAAAAAAho/LU2ZYJboZnE/s1600/Jeanne+Leidtka.jpg" height="200" width="162" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">Jeanne M. Liedtka is a faculty member at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business and former chief learning officer at United Technologies Corporation, where she was responsible for overseeing all activities associated with corporate learning and development for the Fortune 50 corporation, including executive education, career development processes, employer-sponsored education and learning portal and web-based activities.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">At Darden, where she formerly served as associate dean of the MBA program and as executive director of the Batten Institute, Jeanne works with both MBAs and executives in the areas of design thinking, innovation and leading growth. Her passion is exploring how organizations can engage employees at every level in thinking creatively about the design of powerful futures.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444;">Her most recent books are: </span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Catalyst-Become-Extraordinary-Growth/dp/1933199369" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">The Catalyst; How You Can Lead Extraordinary Growth</span></a></i><span style="color: #444444;"> (winner of the Business Week best innovation books of 2009);</span><i><span style="color: #990000;"> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Growth-Thinking-Managers-Publishing/dp/0231158386" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">Designing for Growth: A design thinking tool kit for managers</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #444444;"> (winner of the 1800 CEO READ best management book of 2011); and </span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Physics-Business-Growth-Processes/dp/0804784779" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">The Physics of Business Growth</span></a></i><span style="color: #444444;">. She has a new book in 2013, </span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Solving-Problems-Design-Thinking-Publishing/dp/0231163568" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">Solving Business Problems with Design Thinking: Ten Stories of What Works</span></a></i><span style="color: #444444;"> as well as a field guide to accompany <i>Designing for Growth</i>, forthcoming in January, 2014. </span></span></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>Kimberly Campbell</b></span></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><i style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>Manager of Innovation &amp; Business Development, Weight Watchers</b></i></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9SthF6XpxeE/Uvuf6gxFskI/AAAAAAAAAiM/J3HloGRGTqM/s1600/Kimberly+Campbell+v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9SthF6XpxeE/Uvuf6gxFskI/AAAAAAAAAiM/J3HloGRGTqM/s1600/Kimberly+Campbell+v2.jpg" height="200" width="164" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">Kimberly Campbell is an innovation strategy leader at Weight Watchers International. Kim joins WW with more than 14 years of experience including venture capital, entrepreneurship, and strategy consulting. At WW, Kim is responsible for growing the core business through new program offerings and business development opportunities.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">After completing her MBA from the Darden Business School, Kim joined the venture capital subsidiary at Johnson &amp; Johnson where she advised internal biotech experts in creating the business case for their new venture ideas. Kim helped J&amp;J scientists secure $14 million in funding to start new J&amp;J ventures. Kim has also worked as a strategy consultant with Accenture, Booz Allen and Peer Insight, leading client engagements for some of the most respected companies in the world including P&amp;G, Group Health Cooperative, Sanofi-Aventis, The Veterans Affairs Hospital, and The Hartford Insurance Company.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">“I have had exciting professional experiences; however, I am most proud of the wellness program that I developed for a local faith-based organization a couple years ago. I created two 3-month long healthy lifestyle challenges for a church community that significantly impacted the lives of approximately 250 members. The impact of the challenges included reports of participants being taken off medication from their doctors, renewed self-image, lifestyle change, 956lbs of weight lost, and transformed mindsets. The programs I implemented not only empowered hundreds of people to embrace a healthier life, they inspired me to pursue a career more in-line with my passion to enable health transformation.”&nbsp;</span></span></blockquote><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">Kim is passionate about improving the health and wellness of our nation. She is a certified holistic health coach and a sought after speaker in the areas of Holistic Health, Personal Leadership, and Spirituality in Health &amp; Fitness. Kim completed her undergraduate studies in Management at The American University in Washington, DC where she was a Division I College Basketball Player and scholar athlete. Kim is a member of the 2004 Darden MBA Class.</span></div></div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-10287574903480637762014-02-08T09:44:00.000-08:002014-02-08T09:44:31.260-08:00Darden Student Profiles: A break-through Korean Start-up<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Last year, I sat in on a speech by&nbsp;</span><a href="http://redwardfreeman.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #bf1414; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #990000;">Ed Freeman</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">&nbsp;where he shared about how to discover&nbsp;</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Inspiration</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">. A particularly important point he made is to look for inspiration among those around us. For Ed, inspiration came from within his family.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">As we think about the Darden Family, it seemed appropriate to look for inspiration within&nbsp;</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><i>our</i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">&nbsp;family. With that in mind, I'm excited to introduce Kyle Strong to share a bit about his story.</span><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">-&nbsp;<b><i>CJ</i></b>&nbsp;(EMDC President)</div><br style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><div style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">*********************</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><div style="color: #606060;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XMauBVUJ1ik/UvPAn1PTTVI/AAAAAAAAAe8/4DFyhx0qWI4/s1600/20131128_125611.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XMauBVUJ1ik/UvPAn1PTTVI/AAAAAAAAAe8/4DFyhx0qWI4/s1600/20131128_125611.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kyle and his wife in Korea</td></tr></tbody></table><b>Student:&nbsp;</b>Kyle Strong</div><div style="color: #606060;"><i>Teacher &amp; Entrepreneur</i></div><div><span style="color: #990000;"><b><a href="http://www.paedea.com/" target="_blank">Interpark PAEDEA</a></b></span></div><div style="color: #606060;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060;"><b><i>Kyle, after graduating from Northwestern University, you moved to Seoul, South Korea, to teach English. While there, you were part of the launch of Paedea, an education company delivering a every unique learning experience to students.</i></b><br /><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal"><h3><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;"><i>Can you tell us a bit about PAEDEA and your involvement there?</i></span></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">I had just moved to Seoul, and I met a group of friends who were getting investors together for an education start-up. Once financing was secured, I joined as the company’s first employee. The dream we all had for the company was to disrupt the $17B South Korean educational market by reaching out to consumers in a different way. We thought we could grow quickly, too. The plan was to have a dozen brick-and-mortar locations along with a robust portfolio of digital products in just a few years.</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">The South Korean education industry was and remains quite conservative in its approach. By conservative, I mean that the learning experience is seen as being painful but necessary. Teachers and teaching programs emphasize drilling, memorization, speed, and intensity. Education outcomes in South Korea speak for themselves (one of the highest literacy rates in the world, best in class math scores, and so on), but those outcomes come at a great cost. The country has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and measures of mental health among young people are troubled when compared to peer countries.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">Our hypothesis was that developing educational products and services that were <b><u>not only rigorous but also joyful</u></b> would allow us to differentiate from competitors and gobble up market share. Many people thought that we were naïve because we were bringing a “western” mentality into the Korean market, but the company’s rapid growth showed that we entered the market when there was a real appetite for something new and different. </span></div></div></div></div><br /><b style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><i>In addition to English, you speak Korean, French and Italian. You have experienced learning environments in both US and South Korea.</i></b><br /><b style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><i><br /></i></b><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><h3><i><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;">What challenges and surprises did you face in teaching in a different culture?</span></i></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">The real lesson is that young people, for the most part, are the same, and that culture doesn’t influence them nearly as much as it does adults. Adults have been culturally socialized over decades, but for kids, the process is just beginning. For instance, I’ve traveled with American students to far-flung regions of the world, and they are never as shocked by cultural differences as I think they will be. One on occasion, I was traveling with a high schools in Beijing, and we went down an alley with dozens of food carts. One was selling grilled scorpion. Of course, in the spirit of adventure, we decided to try some. Let’s just say that I was the one who had the most trouble actually eating the thing.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">So, when President Obama traveled to South Korea and included in his speech a small homage to South Korean students and their dedication to learning, I had to chuckle. South Korean kids are just as distracted, lazy, and impatient as their American counterparts when it comes to finishing their math homework. But that was the central lesson of our company: American kids learn best when they are having fun, so why can’t Korean kids have fun as well? </span><br /><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="401" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/51194597" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe></div><div style="color: #606060;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><h3><span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>After Interpark (a large Korean company) acquired PAEDEA, you focused on R&amp;D for the education program. What opportunities do you see in reshaping education in South Korea or even US?</i></span></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">My views on education became more progressive and radical as the company grew. The big hurdle that we faced as a company was the fact that staffing costs increased in proportion with our revenue (excluding digital services, of course). We were able to find creative ways around this problem, but schools around the world face this same issue, and I don’t get the sense that superintendents are willing or able to redesign school programs to take advantage of potential efficiencies. Other industries have benefitted from technological and operational efficiencies and economies of scale that schools cannot achieve—unless the model is changed. Moreover, education is the only industry where abject failure is not only tolerated but perpetuated. For instance, only a very small percentage of students leave high school fluent in a foreign language despite a decade or more of instruction. In other industries, the system would be overhauled or eliminated, or all of the responsible employees would be fired.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">Because the private education market in South Korea is so huge, free market forces are already reshaping learning across the country. For example, many students pay no attention to the English instruction they receive at public schools, knowing full well that the teachers and programs are ineffective. Instead, families look to education software companies and private academies, which are both incentivized to provide outstanding results. In sum, the educational miracle in Korea, China, and Japan is largely due to private companies supplementing the modest outcomes achieved on school grounds.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">I see a similar opportunity for progress in the United States. I don’t have the space in these pages to explain exactly what it would look like, but suffice it to say that I feel strongly about the role of free markets in the future of education in this country.</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FwLhNlTfDIU/UvPS05zZTwI/AAAAAAAAAfM/6xVyBdKi55Y/s1600/sub1_4tit_pic2L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FwLhNlTfDIU/UvPS05zZTwI/AAAAAAAAAfM/6xVyBdKi55Y/s1600/sub1_4tit_pic2L.jpg" height="372" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A PAEDEA library in South Korea</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3><i><span style="color: #b45f06;">What prompted you to come to Darden? Do you have any specific aspirations for your Darden experience?</span></i></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">I came to Darden because of the case method. Full stop. The case method is the most purely academic MBA experience that is available. In the first year, I wanted to hit the books and absorb case after case after case. I wanted to get a feel in my stomach for the patterns one sees across the business world. thought about crafting ideal educational experiences for my entire professional career, so I’m a tough critic. However, at this point, I definitely think that Darden is holding up its part of the bargain. It’s the most transformational educational experience of my life. If only my undergraduate experience had been at this caliber!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">My goal is to use some of my experience with education technology to bring some new experiences into the classroom. I’m currently in talks with researchers at SMU to bring real-time feedback technology into a negotiations course. We’ll see if it pans out. </span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><h3><i><span style="color: #b45f06;">What role is there for MBAs in the education sector and skills are necessary for capturing the opportunity?</span></i></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">I had a friend who moved to China after graduating from university, and his rationale was that China was full of big problems that needed big solutions. He could clearly see the improvements to be made. He could look right out the window and see the air pollution, for instance.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">I’m trying to make an analogy to education in the United States. You can visit a public school, walk its halls, sit in on a class—and the problems are obvious. Big problems need big solutions, and big solutions are the foundation on which a company is built. MBAs should look at the sad state of public schools and think about ways to disrupt that market.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">I get suspicious when I hear about a new hot cell phone application that is trying to solve a problem that people didn’t even know they had. Every family in America is looking for a solution to the problem of our primary and secondary schools, but there are not many entrepreneurs who are tackling the problem head-on. </span></div></div></div></div><div style="color: #606060;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #606060; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;">*****************</span></div><div style="color: #606060;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fevEbRbj32U/UvPTIngtyXI/AAAAAAAAAfU/T7h2dNaD12c/s1600/kas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fevEbRbj32U/UvPTIngtyXI/AAAAAAAAAfU/T7h2dNaD12c/s1600/kas.jpg" height="150" width="123" /></a></div><span style="color: #666666;">Kyle Strong is a native Californian who studied English and art history as an undergraduate at Northwestern. An international career in education innovation and teaching eventually brought him to Darden, where he is jump-starting a career in marketing. He and his wife, who is a food engineer, love cooking with the aid of unusual kitchen gadgets edible chemicals.</span><br /><div style="color: #606060;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div></div></div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-72629921859676073072014-02-08T09:20:00.000-08:002014-02-08T09:20:17.265-08:00BiS Conference: Scaling Small Business Impact<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Scaling Small Business Impact</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><i>CR 50 - This Friday&nbsp;@ 1:15 pm - 2:00 pm</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444;">50% of people in the US work for a small business. Like large businesses, small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) need to consider a variety of stakeholders. These players work with customers, financiers, nonprofits and elected officials. The scale of impact of small business can be captured in the two charts below that show that</span><b><span style="color: #990000;"> 77% of private sector jobs today are in small businesses</span></b><span style="color: #444444;">, and that </span><b><span style="color: #990000;">70% of jobs created this decade came from small businesses.</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZFUCTzmFCL8/UvZkoMEj9RI/AAAAAAAAAgA/ITKLglb6eEw/s1600/US-Private-Sector-Employment-by-Company-Size.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZFUCTzmFCL8/UvZkoMEj9RI/AAAAAAAAAgA/ITKLglb6eEw/s1600/US-Private-Sector-Employment-by-Company-Size.jpg" height="208" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tOHM47X82SI/UvZkxNMe4dI/AAAAAAAAAgI/kXbahaLngoc/s1600/US-Jobs-Created-This-Decade-by-Company-Size.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tOHM47X82SI/UvZkxNMe4dI/AAAAAAAAAgI/kXbahaLngoc/s1600/US-Jobs-Created-This-Decade-by-Company-Size.jpg" height="200" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">During this session, our panelists will draw upon their mix of experiences and backgrounds to discuss how small businesses engage with their communities as stakeholders, and their role in creating economic development and communal vitality. How do businesses scale their impact and what drives that?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">********</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>Ridge Schuyler</b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jqMnaWeDCKc/UvZlb8F2yoI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/H1Eqnx4Kgro/s1600/Ridge+Schuyler.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jqMnaWeDCKc/UvZlb8F2yoI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/H1Eqnx4Kgro/s1600/Ridge+Schuyler.bmp" height="200" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">Following 10 years on Capitol Hill serving as Chief of Staff to US Congressman Rick Boucher and Policy Advisor to Senator Chuck Robb of Virginia, Ridge Schuyler became the Director of the Nature Conservancy’s Piedmont Program from 2000-2008. In 2008 Congressman Tom Perriello (VA-5) asked Ridge to serve as his “boots on the ground” District Director, a position he held for 2 years. On his own initiative, Ridge published the Orange Dot Report in 2011 which analyzed the economic struggles facing a considerable portion of Charlottesville families and proposed innovative approaches to job creation. In 2012 Ridge, an U.Va. law graduate, ran President Obama’s voter protection efforts in Virginia.&nbsp;</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">Following the campaign, Ridge founded the Charlottesville Works Initiative, a non-profit affiliate of the local Chamber of Commerce, which is implementing the ideas from the Orange Dot Report. He currently serves as the Charlottesville Works Initiative’s Director. That effort is working to create jobs by connecting small local businesses through hubs to the anchor institutions that drive our local economy, and by working to connect individuals to those newly created jobs through a peer network.</span></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"></span><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BRebXWgYQsE/UvZlyCqozuI/AAAAAAAAAgY/vkuADuHCHq0/s1600/Casey+Gerald.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BRebXWgYQsE/UvZlyCqozuI/AAAAAAAAAgY/vkuADuHCHq0/s1600/Casey+Gerald.bmp" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Casey Gerald</span></b></span></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Casey currently serves as the CEO of MBAxAmerica, an organization he co-founded. He has worked as a strategist with startup social ventures like Reboot &amp; The Future Project, and established companies like the Neiman Marcus Group. He began his career in economic policy &amp; innovation at the Center for American Progress. Casey is a second-year MBA at Harvard Business School, and graduated from Yale College.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>Dave Fafara</b></span></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-thHZ8VdLg7U/UvZmKofS8jI/AAAAAAAAAgg/hfJVn5gwt1w/s1600/dish-fafara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-thHZ8VdLg7U/UvZmKofS8jI/AAAAAAAAAgg/hfJVn5gwt1w/s1600/dish-fafara.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">David Fafara is the owner of Shenandoah Joe Coffee Roasters and Espresso Bar as well as Sun Sports, a pool management company, in Charlottesville, Virginia. A former University of Virginia men’s and women’s diving coach, he coached four Atlantic Coast Conference Divers of the Year. Prior to coaching at Virginia, Fafara spent three years as diving coach at West Virginia University. He also taught and coached in the Santa Cruz, California city schools for five years and coached at Cabrillo Junior College from 1982-85. Fafara earned a B.S. in physical education and health from North Park College and a master’s degree in counseling from West Virginia University.</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span><div class="" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HnD2eY-2Cu8/UvZmxCAlGqI/AAAAAAAAAgo/0-bJA6ZOICA/s1600/Bobby+Parmar.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HnD2eY-2Cu8/UvZmxCAlGqI/AAAAAAAAAgo/0-bJA6ZOICA/s1600/Bobby+Parmar.bmp" height="200" width="154" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>Bidhan "Bobby" Parmar - Moderator</b></span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">Assistant Professor Bidhan ("Bobby") Parmar teaches First Year Ethics and a Second Year elective on collaboration at the Darden School of Business. Parmar's research interests focus on how managers make decisions and collaborate in uncertain and changing environments to create value for stakeholders. His work helps executive better handle ambiguity in their decision making. His recent research examines the impact of authority on moral decision making in organizations. Parmar’s work has been published in </span><i style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">Organization Science and the Journal of Business Ethics</i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">.</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">Parmar is a fellow at the </span><a href="http://www.corporate-ethics.org/" style="font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;" target="_blank">Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"> and the </span><a href="http://www.darden.virginia.edu/web/olsson-center-for-applied-ethics/" style="font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;" target="_blank">Olsson Center for Applied Ethics</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">. Prior to teaching at Darden, Parmar taught at the U.Va. McIntire School of Commerce.</span><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">Parmar lives in Charlottesville with his wife and two daughters.</span></span></div></div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-90903423610901704072014-02-05T16:47:00.000-08:002014-02-05T16:49:01.325-08:00How Economic Inequality Harms Societies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">Last week, in order to set the tone, we looked at some <a href="http://dardenemdc.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-astounding-facts-about-global-us.html" target="_blank">astounding facts about global inequality</a>. If you've been following the news, you know the firestorm that the latest Oxfam report has caused and how politicians, business leaders and media are each considering responses to it. Notably, the World Economic Forum in Davos has made this topic its main agenda item, so perhaps its time we became better informed. What are the consequences of inequality? Is it always bad? Don't you need inequality to create incentives? To start with, let's look at the case <u style="font-style: italic;">against</u>&nbsp;inequality.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">In 2011, Richard Wilkinson spoke at TEDGlobal 2011 and outlined compelling evidence showing how economic inequality is correlated with almost every meaningful quality of life indicator. Wilkinson uses this to build a case about the incredible and broad-ranging harm that inequality causes in society. <b>Do you agree with him?</b></span><br /><br /><br /></div></div></div></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://embed.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson.html" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-83969566211136362072014-01-28T19:10:00.000-08:002014-01-28T19:14:15.191-08:00Global Conference: Innovation & Entrepreneurship as Engines for Growth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Innovation &amp; Entrepreneurship as Engines for Growth</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><i>CR 40 - This Friday&nbsp;@ 2:15 pm - 3:15 pm</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="color: #444444;">The story of the global economy over the last century has been one of incredible economic growth. One need look no farther than the latest <a href="http://annualletter.gatesfoundation.org/" target="_blank">annual letter</a> from the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates foundation for evidence of the great strides made in eradicating poverty and disease the world over. A great way to visualize this is through the freely available <a href="http://www.gapminder.org/world/" target="_blank">GapMinder World</a> application that contains historical data series for a number of health and wealth indicators. Just consider that the</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> <b>life expectancy on nearly everyone on the planet today, is higher than the highest life expectancy merely a century ago.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2Nv1Xtxsqds/UuhrR2PEREI/AAAAAAAAAeU/PcLvSPDBeQY/s1600/1900+Scene.JPG" height="240" width="300" /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pFgwqjGCvfg/UuhrV-Yk0YI/AAAAAAAAAec/qGQc5OiIcek/s1600/2012+Scene.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pFgwqjGCvfg/UuhrV-Yk0YI/AAAAAAAAAec/qGQc5OiIcek/s1600/2012+Scene.JPG" height="240" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The tables above show life expectancy and income the world over between 1900 and 2012. Each circle represents one country</span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">But where is this growth coming from and how is it sustained? If we rely on current long-run economic growth models, then the source of growth is increases in technology, where 'technology' refers to a broadly defined set of capabilities. But how does technology increase over time? We posit that both innovation and entrepreneurship are key components of increasing the technological stock of a country.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">More importantly, if we talk about wealth creation, then we must understand what is required to spur innovation, and what ecosystems are necessary to encourage&nbsp;entrepreneurship. But we are not the experts, and so we're&nbsp;excited for a chance to meet some. Join us this coming Friday to hear from three great panelists whose experiences shape different perspectives on where growth comes from.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">********</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>LeAnn Chapleau</b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FHWAGxALF-M/UuhuxWslJHI/AAAAAAAAAek/P2SkQu_Mp5Q/s1600/LeAnn+Chapleau.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FHWAGxALF-M/UuhuxWslJHI/AAAAAAAAAek/P2SkQu_Mp5Q/s1600/LeAnn+Chapleau.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">At the United States Department of Commerce International Trade Administration, LeAnn is an Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere on U.S. trade and investment policy in the Americas. In this role she is committed to working with senior government officials and private sector leaders from the hemisphere to work towards a level playing field for U.S. businesses overseas and increased competitiveness in the Americas. She is the U.S. representative to the Inter-American Competitiveness Network, and she has represented the U.S. to the Organization of American States (OAS), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).&nbsp;</span></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bnEmjX2OP0w/UuhvMG_ni2I/AAAAAAAAAes/_JHMwrJaTP4/s1600/Lily+Bowles.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bnEmjX2OP0w/UuhvMG_ni2I/AAAAAAAAAes/_JHMwrJaTP4/s1600/Lily+Bowles.png" height="200" width="200" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Lily Bowles</span></b></div><span style="font-size: 14px;">As Village Capital’s Global Operations Manager, Lily is committed to facilitating the organization’s growth through her work managing internal operations, leading investor relations, spearheading research initiatives, and supporting the organization’s development efforts. Prior to joining the VilCap team, Lily interned at the Aspen Institute, B Lab, and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. In spring 2012, she earned a BA in Political &amp; Social Thought from the University of Virginia, where she co-founded the University’s Social Entrepreneurship Initiative, and was a Jefferson Scholar.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>Achraf Fahmy</b></span></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">One of the co-founders of FabLab Egypt, Achraf has seen first had the challenges in spurring innovation in a context very different from most of us. Following the seeds of the Arab Spring, Achraf and his partners founded the Egyptian chapter of FabLab, a fabrication facility designed to spur creativity and encourage&nbsp;entrepreneurial&nbsp;thinking. Conceived at M.I.T. in Boston, the FabLab is a space designated to both teaching young thinkers, as well as testing new ideas. Much like a community center, it provides the support structure for a network of entrepreneurs.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; width: 300px;"><div style="color: black; font-size: 10px;"></div></div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-46889858164023066302014-01-24T17:01:00.000-08:002014-01-24T17:04:19.388-08:00The Astounding Facts about Global & US Inequality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cjm3PHUnz8g/UuMIJ-TJgAI/AAAAAAAAAds/F2zmHiFKtcE/s1600/inequality_london_rtr22tt7_ah1_54848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cjm3PHUnz8g/UuMIJ-TJgAI/AAAAAAAAAds/F2zmHiFKtcE/s1600/inequality_london_rtr22tt7_ah1_54848.jpg" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">In the coming weeks we will be posting a series of articles on the growing discussion about global inequality. The catalyst for this conversation is a recent report from Oxfam that shares some astounding facts about the degree and nature of wealth and poverty in the world today. This article merely attempts to set the stage by sharing some basic statistics that might spur some reflection. The full Oxfam report can be <a href="http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/bp-working-for-few-political-capture-economic-inequality-200114-en.pdf" target="_blank">accessed here</a>.</span></span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>Almost half of the world's wealth is now owned by just one percent of the population</b></span></span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>The wealth of the 1% of richest people on earth amounts to $110 trillion. That is 65 times the total wealth of the bottom half of the world's population</b></span></span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>The bottom half of the world's population owns the same wealth as the richest 85 people in the world.</b></span></span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>7 out of 10 people live in countries where economic inequality has increased in the last 30 years</b></span></span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>The richest 1% increased their share of income in 24 out of 26 countries for which we have data between 1980 and 2012</b></span></span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b>In the US, the richest 1% captured 95% of post-financial crisis growth since 2009, while the bottom 90% became poorer</b></span></span></li></ul><div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Stuwu937hxM/UuMKnMgHJkI/AAAAAAAAAd0/i1az-rTTl6o/s1600/Global_Distribution_of_Wealth_v3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Stuwu937hxM/UuMKnMgHJkI/AAAAAAAAAd0/i1az-rTTl6o/s1600/Global_Distribution_of_Wealth_v3.jpg" height="251" width="320" /></a></div><div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><b style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">IS THIS NEW?</b><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">Zooming into the US, the chart below shows the share of wealth of the top 1% over the past century. What we see is that during much of the 20th century, the US was a more equal society. The last time inequality approached current levels was in 1928. This was followed by the Great Depression, launched on September 4th, 1929 (Black Tuesday).</span></div><div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">There are many causes and explanations for these trends and this isn't necessarily bad news. It's just <b>NEW</b> news.</span><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ee4j6tHVrAo/UuMLChZTlGI/AAAAAAAAAd8/sWjsv2TeTes/s1600/top-1-share-of-income-us1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ee4j6tHVrAo/UuMLChZTlGI/AAAAAAAAAd8/sWjsv2TeTes/s1600/top-1-share-of-income-us1.png" height="370" width="640" /></a></div><div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">Lastly, I'll leave you with a closer snapshot of income gains in the last few decades across various economic strata. The graph below shows the change in after-tax income for various economic groups since 1979. What is material to note is that while all incomes are rising, they are rising much faster on a percentage basis for the richest. We expect income gains for the richest to be larger in absolute terms. However, the wide gap in gains in </span><u style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">percentage</u><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">&nbsp;terms shows that the rich are getting rich much much faster than the poor.</span></div><div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KOdR7w2XOmA/UuML_2kyzaI/AAAAAAAAAeE/5afW1IOS0y8/s1600/growth-in-income-inequality1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KOdR7w2XOmA/UuML_2kyzaI/AAAAAAAAAeE/5afW1IOS0y8/s1600/growth-in-income-inequality1.jpg" height="414" width="640" /></a></div><div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><b style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hopefully food for thought!</span></b></div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-85035447421933608062014-01-19T10:47:00.000-08:002014-01-24T16:32:40.934-08:00UPDATE: Global Conference Profile: Jessica Matthews & the sOccket<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>UPDATE:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Due to an immediate travel commitment, Jessica will be unable to attend this year's conference and sends her sincerest apologies. However, we have been coincidentally fortunate in having an offer from Thomas Gibson (Founder of <a href="http://seaf.com/" target="_blank">SEAF</a> and President of the<a href="http://wbi.worldbank.org/wbi/" target="_blank"> Institute of SME Finance</a>) to come to Darden to speak at our conference. Keep an eye out for more Conference profiles.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>******</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vkd2ql0YAso/UtweSUfnI2I/AAAAAAAAAdc/RNBbzUf3EBk/s1600/Screen-Shot-2013-03-23-at-9.30.24-AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vkd2ql0YAso/UtweSUfnI2I/AAAAAAAAAdc/RNBbzUf3EBk/s1600/Screen-Shot-2013-03-23-at-9.30.24-AM.png" height="316" width="640" /></a></div><br />On January 31st, Darden will be hosting it's first every Global Conference. Hosted by a broad coalition of affinity clubs at Darden, the conference brings in speakers from around the world with experiences from Africa, to Asia and Latin America. In the run-up to the conference we will be profiling various speakers and panelists. You can <b><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/11zIjT-I35aCaNOJ6tac_yg2l2AKwvS4VoRm6J8QtBaE/viewform" target="_blank">register</a></b> for the conference for free and check out our<b> <a href="http://www.darden.virginia.edu/web/MBA/Student-Life/Organizations/International-Business-Society/Global-Conference-2014/" target="_blank">website</a></b> for more information.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">**********</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hhFHNK4DDag/Utwa8Yk0UmI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/lMzvYsPkMFk/s1600/JessicaMatthews.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hhFHNK4DDag/Utwa8Yk0UmI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/lMzvYsPkMFk/s1600/JessicaMatthews.jpg" height="200" width="141" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-weight: 800; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jessica Matthews |</span>&nbsp;CEO &amp; Founder of Uncharted Play</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">The sOccket looks like a regular soccer ball, but it doubles as an energy-harvesting source that can help light up communities without access to electricity.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px;">Jessica O. Matthews and Julia Silverman, who are in their early 20s, came up with the idea for the sOccket while working on a class project during their junior year at Harvard.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 14px;">They were taking an engineering class for non-engineering majors and were tasked with addressing a social issue through art and science.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">Both had&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">traveled</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px;">&nbsp;extensively through Africa – Matthews is Nigerian-American – and knew that soccer was a&nbsp;hugely popular sport. They also noticed that African children made soccer balls out of just about anything, including discarded plastic bags.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px;">“We wanted to create a product that would change their lives,” says Matthews. In Africa, limited access to electricity leads to the use of fume-emitting kerosene lamps that are expensive to fuel and harmful to the health (The fumes the children&nbsp;<a href="http://ehs.sph.berkeley.edu/krsmith/publications/keroseneemission.pdf" style="color: #4c8eb9; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">inhale from these lamps</a>&nbsp;are the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.)</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: 800; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">International Spokesperson</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px;">Last May, Matthews and Silverman set up their social enterprise,&nbsp;<a href="http://unchartedplay.com/home.html" style="color: #4c8eb9; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Uncharted Play</a>, to create fun products and services that address major societal issues.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 14px;">The team has received funding from grants and family members to help develop their product, but Matthews says that raising money has been the toughest challenge.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px;">“Social impact is important to us. It’s in the heart of what we do and that’s what we established our business model on. It’s hard to find the right people who believe in the same things that we believe in.”&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 14px;">To date, they have about 6,000 sOcckets confirmed for distribution to developing countries in Africa, Central America, and Asia.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Since starting, Jessica has spoken at <b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7Y12NQkAL8" target="_blank">TEDxRio+20 </a></b>and the first ever <b><a href="http://blog.ted.com/2013/12/05/a-recap-of-tedwomen-2013-session-1/" target="_blank">TEDWomen</a></b> this past year. A current HBS student, she is committed to developing her business and inspiring young professionals to make a global difference.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Come hear her speak this Jan 31st&nbsp;@ UVA - Darden School of Business.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.599998474121094px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div></div></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Bi8-wLWqJp8?rel=0" width="640"></iframe></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-73787739166571675452014-01-15T20:29:00.000-08:002014-01-15T20:30:09.383-08:00Morgan Stanley - Sustainable Investing Challenge<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zq4k9cSExSk/Utdfx3pqrqI/AAAAAAAAAdE/UhRm0IzBSZQ/s1600/MS_SIC_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zq4k9cSExSk/Utdfx3pqrqI/AAAAAAAAAdE/UhRm0IzBSZQ/s1600/MS_SIC_logo.jpg" height="99" width="640" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #616262; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #616262; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">The Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge harnesses the power of capital markets and student creativity to create positive impact in a world of perpetual resource scarcity and continued population growth. A pitch competition for graduate students, the Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge focuses on developing institutional-quality investment vehicles that seek positive environmental or social impact and competitive financial returns.</span></div><br style="background-color: white; color: #616262; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #616262; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">Contestants must propose and defend a strategy that uses finance and investment tools to address an environmental or societal challenge. The competition is an opportunity to apply core finance principles to target the economic, social and environmental challenges that drive the field of sustainable investing. Pitches might focus on areas like water, energy, food, social mobility, climate change, education or healthcare, among others. Contestants are encouraged to apply the entire spectrum of investment tools, styles and asset classes.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #616262; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #616262; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">Teams of graduate students are invited to submit a two-page prospectus by February 25, 2014 at 5:00 PM CST that outlines an innovative financial vehicle that addresses a sustainability challenge and meets the requirements of an institutional investor. The portal for prospectus submissions will open on February 3, 2014. Each prospectus should appropriately address the&nbsp;</span><a href="http://sustainableinvestingchallenge.org/compete/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #000099; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Compete">guidelines</a>&nbsp;<span style="background-color: white; color: #616262; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">provided. Ten finalist teams will be selected from the pool of submissions and announced by March 7, 2014. Finalists will present their proposals to a panel of judges at Morgan Stanley’s New York City headquarters on April 4, 2014. A panel of experienced investors and officers who currently manage pension funds, foundations, and institutional assets will review and judge the pitches. Judging criteria can be found&nbsp;</span><a href="http://sustainableinvestingchallenge.org/judgingcriteria/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #000099; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Judging Criteria">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #616262; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">.</span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 24px;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Awards</span></b></span></span></h3><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #616262; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-left: 2px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">$15,000 in prizes will be awarded to the winning teams. Awards will be made for the overall quality of the proposals based on the&nbsp;<a href="http://impactinvestingchallenge.org/judgingcriteria/" style="border: 0px; color: #000099; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">judging criteria</a>.<br /><br />Overall First Place: &nbsp;$10,000</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #616262; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-left: 2px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overall Runner-Up: &nbsp;$5,000<br /><br />If you are interested in participating and would like help in forming a team, email us at dardenemdc@gmail.com</div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-746163239273053192014-01-15T07:58:00.000-08:002014-01-15T07:58:00.396-08:00Volunteer Opportunity: 6-12 weeks in Kigali, Rwanda<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #90cbf5; font-family: Actor, 'Myriad Pro', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.7em; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0.3em 0px;">Our Opportunity: A New Business Accelerator to Stimulate Job Creation</h2><div class="paragraph" style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-epw4utfRekc/UtauqKsW1VI/AAAAAAAAAco/O8YIc7UQf3I/s1600/1373984580.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #868686; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-epw4utfRekc/UtauqKsW1VI/AAAAAAAAAco/O8YIc7UQf3I/s1600/1373984580.png" /></a><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: small;">African Entrepreneur Collective (AEC) is a new, innovative solution to systemic unemployment in Africa.</span>&nbsp;<span style="font-size: small;">While many organizations promote entrepreneurship through training, business plan competitions or incubation, few of these interventions actually lead to job creation.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">AEC’s ideology is powerful: equip existing entrepreneurs, people who have already demonstrated success at a small scale, and support them to grow their enterprises to create jobs for others in their communities.<span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Founded in Summer 2012, AEC identifies young entrepreneurs with existing enterprises and accelerates their growth by providing a comprehensive suite of business education, mentorship, technical support and access to affordable capital.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;">***********************</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">African Entrepreneur Collective’s Global Mentor Program brings experienced professionals from around the world to guide Rwandan entrepreneurs through the challenges of operating a business. You’ll work one-on-one with a young innovator, improving their enterprise, teaching him or her new skills, and, ultimately, contributing to job creation in Rwanda.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">Mentoring with AEC is not the typical volunteer commitment. You will not dig wells with college students or build a small school with a high school youth group—we are in the business of growing businesses.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">While we are a non-profit organization, African Entrepreneur Collective is a far cry from charity. AEC works with the best and brightest of Rwanda. You’ll spend your sabbatical or vacation supporting some of the country’s top young innovators growing their companies.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b>Impact</b>: We’ll pair you with a mentee that needs&nbsp;<i>your</i>&nbsp;specific experience so that time in Rwanda is spent using your expertise to provide a sustained impact to their business.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b>Experience</b>: Coaching young entrepreneurs in a developing country will allow you to test your professional skills in a new environment and use them to overcome new challenges.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b>Network</b>: You’ll collaborate with other mentors (current and past) to make the most of your time with your entrepreneur, and meet a variety of professionals in the SME community.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">The&nbsp;Ideal Global Mentor</span></div><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="color: #666666;">Graduate degree in a relevant field or an undergraduate degree with 2-3 years of experience</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="color: #666666;">Experience in mentoring, coaching, and/or training others preferred</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="color: #666666;">Interest in emerging markets and the developing world</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="color: #666666;">Experience abroad—in developing countries especially—preferred</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="color: #666666;">Independent working, problem solving, critical thinking, patient optimist</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="color: #666666;">Commitment to going the extra mile to create lasting impact</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="color: #666666;">Open to new experiences and understanding of different cultures</span></li></ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">To learn more about previous mentors, click the link below:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.africanentrepreneurcollective.org/mentors.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666;">http://www.<wbr></wbr>africanentrepreneurcollective.<wbr></wbr>org/mentors.html</span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">AEC will provide you with free lodging in our spacious, seven-bedroom guesthouse in a safe and well situated neighborhood. Our in-country staff will assist you in getting situated in the city and learning new customs.</span></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></div></span><div class="paragraph" style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">To apply for AEC's Global Mentors Program, please email your resume and a brief letter of interest to AEC's Founder and Executive Director, Julienne Oyler, at</span><a href="mailto:Julienne@africanentrepreneur.org" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;" target="_blank">Julienne@<wbr></wbr>africanentrepreneur.org</a><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and preference is given to early applicants.</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-69561010336867855722013-12-12T10:18:00.000-08:002013-12-12T10:18:15.683-08:00Interview with Hannah Davis: CEO/Founder of BANGS Shoes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Over the past year we have tried to develop profiles of students at Darden who have pursued unique opportunities in economic development. With this post we expand on that scope by launching our first profile of an entrepreneur outside Darden.<br />Hannah Davis, founder of BANGS Shoes visited Darden this past November, and we followed up with her for an interview to go deeper in her experience as a social entrepreneur. You can check out a video of Hannah speaking at Darden <b><a href="http://dardenemdc.blogspot.com/2013/12/bangs-shoes-hannah-davis-speaks-at.html" target="_blank">here.</a></b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">***************</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7edGauKz2A4/Up5EiWfDR5I/AAAAAAAAAbY/bRwlVzke690/s1600/HannahDavis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7edGauKz2A4/Up5EiWfDR5I/AAAAAAAAAbY/bRwlVzke690/s200/HannahDavis.jpg" width="170" /></a></div><b>Hannah Davis</b><br /><i>Social Entreprenur</i><br /><span style="color: #990000;">BANGS Shoes&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bangsshoes.com/">http://www.bangsshoes.com/</a></span><br /><br />Hannah, in 2009 you traveled to Jiangsu Province in Eastern China to teach English. There, you discovered a shoe commonly used by Chinese workers and farmers and struck upon the idea of a new type of shoe that focuses on global good.<br /><br />The name BANGS derives from the Chinese character for the word <b>help</b>, which is spelled B-A-N-G. <br /><br /><br /><h3><span style="color: #b45f06;">Those who have watched your video or heard you speak at Darden learned about the moment that inspired the creation of BANGS. Can you tell us a little bit about your journey from then to now? How did you go about making that moment of inspiration real?</span></h3><blockquote class="tr_bq">Well, the journey is still in motion, so it's a bit hard to define the events that made BANGS happen. However, going back to the very early days of BANGS, I felt like I had a whole bunch of ideas, but making them into a reality seemed very difficult. One of the biggest early challenges was establishing an international supply chain and finding a manufacturing partner. There is so much competition in the manufacturing space, it’s not easy to find someone who can make low quantities for low prices. Another huge hurdle was setting up a BANGS college engagement program to help us connect with our target demographic.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">However, coming back to the question of making BANGS real, the main thing that has aided in the development of BANGS was finding people whose passion and work ethic match my own who I really enjoy working with. A lot of these relationships have come out of random conversations and meetings I had.<b><span style="color: #990000;"> I feel like most good business happens as a result of sitting down with a compassionate, open-minded, humane person. </span></b>Actually, the story of our first investor is about just such a conversation.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">I met George, who was our first investor and current partner, while I was bar-tending. We had a conversation about BANGS, and he really liked the idea of an entire brand created around investing in the nonprofit space. After a couple of months, he decided to invest and has been a huge part of why BANGS is where it is today. Our 2nd partner, Peter, joined us a few weeks ago. When we met, we just connected. He clicked with the culture George and I worked to cultivate, saw the potential growth in BANGS and wanted to be a part of it. I have worked with Peter unofficially for a couple of months, but just a few days ago offered him a partnership. The biggest, most important thing is he understands the mission and intentions of the company. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">It has been these sorts of partnerships that have been the building blocks for BANGS.</blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/71931771" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3><span style="color: #b45f06;">Creating a business that makes shoes in China, ships to the US and sells online around the country sounds really complicated. Can you share about some of the challenges that surprised you along the way? Were there any moments you were tempted to give up and how did you move past them?</span></h3><blockquote class="tr_bq">As I mentioned earlier, getting the Chinese manufacturers to commit to making shoes for an unknown brand was very difficult; however, <span style="color: #990000;"><b>giving back exists in every culture.</b> </span>So people were very receptive to the idea of BANGS. Even in the business world, humanity and a sense of connectedness transcend things like culture and language. The funniest part was seeing a Chinese reaction to the shoes. The design of the shoes is that of a blue-collar working shoe, and my students couldn't understand why someone in America would want to buy it for fashion purposes .</blockquote><br /><h3><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UM88AQE5oks/Up9nnNAb-EI/AAAAAAAAAbk/UCpuRy8SFRY/s1600/BANGS-Shoes-Edited-Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="114" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UM88AQE5oks/Up9nnNAb-EI/AAAAAAAAAbk/UCpuRy8SFRY/s200/BANGS-Shoes-Edited-Image.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #b45f06;">BANGS is absolutely centered on a social mission to improve lives. How did you go about incorporating that social mission into the business? Were there any natural complementarities you found, or any points where money and mission diverged? </span></h3><blockquote class="tr_bq">This is really tough question. The social mission vs the business is the battle of every social entrepreneur. As a social entrepreneur, you're using business as a tool to affect positive social development, but the balance between the two is very, very fine and you just have to find it for yourself.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">And it’s not like you find the balance one day and then you just have it. You have to keep searching and balancing every single day. It took me a really long time to come to grips with this dynamic.<b><span style="color: #990000;"> It was a tough realization that the social model of BANGS cannot have the impact I envision unless the business model is insanely successful.</span></b></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">However, making the shift is critical. You can’t just talk about it. You have to actually do it, which means you're putting energy into working on BOTH the business and the social side. I have to work on this balance literally every single daily, but it's becoming easier. There is an internal battle in terms of where do I put my time and energy, because in the end there is only one of me.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">I'm so lucky to have partners who I see eye to eye with on this as well. I've been working with George for a year and we have never had an argument. We may not agree 100% all the time, but we always talk through everything. The important thing for us is to focus on the end goal and keep prioritizing. We'll talk about all the options available and we won't make a decision until everyone is in agreement and bought in. </blockquote><br /><h3><span style="color: #b45f06;">BANGS is partnered with six amazing non-profits that impact the world in remarkable but different ways. Can you talk about your process for finding and selecting these partners? Do you have any advice for a social entrepreneur looking to find partners in their enterprise?</span></h3><blockquote class="tr_bq">In finding partners to help us fulfill our social mission, we looked for 3 big things. BANGS's core mission is to invest in sustainable development, and the non-profit partners are the key vehicles for that. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The first criterion was to find partners who share a common vision for sustainable change. Sustainable means that the change we are creating is systemic and not dependent on aid flows. Initially, I simply went on Google to figure out what options were out there but very quickly found myself flooded with organizations engaged in development. Finding those that seemed to genuinely focus on sustainable change was the first critical filter. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The second criterion was finding partners that we could consider mutually beneficial. This meant that they had to be of comparable size to us, and that has held true to most of our partnerships. It meant that our success was relevant and meaningful to the non-profit, and also that our culture was more compatible. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Lastly,<span style="color: #990000;"><b> I needed to be able to pick up the phone and call these partners whenever I needed to</b></span>. It always comes back to people and I want to work with people who are easy and fun to talk to. We feed off each other's energy and move forward together, and that means being able to talk with each other freely. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">My advice to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to build partnerships is to get on the phone. BANGS is a virtual company, which allows us to keep overhead low and focus on having a lean budget. We rely on technology to help us avoid big unnecessary expenses. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">However, connectivity can be lost over email, so where possible its best to call people or sit down with them. If you can get someone on the phone or in person, you are so much more effective. The human connection is a big part of forming strong partnerships. So, put simply, <b><span style="color: #990000;">target the people you want to meet and find a way to get in front of them</span></b>.</blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/cbM5HQv9n00?rel=0" width="640"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3><span style="color: #b45f06;">Being an entrepreneur sounds like a pretty crazy life. How do you stay sane and focused? As the curator of BANGS long-term vision, how do you keep perspective in the midst of the day-to-day?</span></h3><blockquote class="tr_bq">In the short term..<br /><ul><li>Exercise! Yoga is my savior and it keeps me (relatively) sane.</li></ul><ul><li>Also, having an amazingly focused team helps. It's impossible to do it alone. George and Peter are huge resources and they help me maintain focus.</li></ul>In the longer term..<br /><ul><li>My team is my source of sanity. They challenge me on my decisions and help me with doubts.</li></ul><ul><li>Peter and George do a really good job of helping maintain our vision. Peter in particular helps me keep perspective by helping write down our goals and working backwards. Together, George, Peter, and I break down these bigger goals to daily tasks, and that helps to make sure we have are honest to our long term vision.</li></ul></blockquote><br /><h3><span style="color: #b45f06;">What question do you get most often that you wished people stopped asking? What do you wish people asked more often?</span></h3><blockquote class="tr_bq">I don't think there are any questions I wish people stopped asking. I think it's always good to be getting questions. However, I do find that I usually get the same series of questions, and I've gotten used to anticipating them. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">One of the ones I get asked the most is how is BANGS different from TOMS? I think it’s important that people ask the question, so I don't mind responding to it. I think the main difference is that TOMS's mission is to provide shoes. That is the theory behind the one-to-one model. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">However, we believe that shoes may not be a comprehensive answer and our goal is to meet the real development challenges people face. BANGS is about partners that will meet the actual needs of the communities we serve. Part of that means providing tools that help people pull themselves out of poverty. The goal is to have a long-term impact and not a quick fix. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">I think if we can get that story out, the need for the long-term impact, then that is the best question we can answer.</blockquote><br /><b><i><span style="color: #b45f06;">Thank you for your time Hannah! We are excited for where you and BANGS go in the future, and do look forward to hosting you at Darden in the future.</span></i></b><br /><b><i><br /></i></b>If you are interested in learning more about BANGS you can check out their<br /><br /><h3>| &nbsp;<a href="http://www.bangsshoes.com/" target="_blank">Website</a> &nbsp;| <a href="https://www.facebook.com/standonissues" target="_blank">&nbsp;Facebook</a>&nbsp; | &nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/BangsShoes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>&nbsp; | &nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/bangs" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> &nbsp;| &nbsp;<a href="http://www.roozt.com/BANGS-Shoes/index.html" target="_blank">Roozt</a> &nbsp;|</h3><br /><b>Articles about BANGS:</b><br /><a href="http://coladaily.com/2013/10/29/bangs-shoes-founder-hanna-davis-mixes-fashion-charity/" target="_blank">BANGS shoes founder Hannah Davis mixes fashion, humanitarianism</a> -<i> ColaDaily.com</i><br /><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/not-if-but-interview-bangs-shoes-hannah-12038484.html" target="_blank">Not 'If' but 'When': Interview with BANGS Shoes' Hannah Davis</a> - <i>Yahoo Voices</i><br /><a href="http://www.valleymagazinepsu.com/bangs-shoes-mixing-fashion-with-a-social-cause/" target="_blank">BANGS Shoes: Mixing Fashion with a Social Cause</a> - <i>Valley PSU</i></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-33972326405259162722013-12-11T11:32:00.000-08:002013-12-11T11:32:55.785-08:00Sustainable Investing = Doing Good + Making Money<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RIXGwKu9tEc/UqcD8D9VvpI/AAAAAAAAAcE/Gdngr4EdhSI/s1600/Green-Money---Plant-growi-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RIXGwKu9tEc/UqcD8D9VvpI/AAAAAAAAAcE/Gdngr4EdhSI/s1600/Green-Money---Plant-growi-001.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>Co-authored by Rohan Poojara (<a href="http://rohanpoojara.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/sustainable-investing-doing-good-and-making-money-a-darden-professor-and-students-perspective/" target="_blank">Original Posting</a>)</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Whether you aspire to be an entrepreneur, finance professional, consultant or business manager after Darden, understanding the sustainability perspective of value creation is critical because it is now shaping the business and investment world and will continue to do so for years to come.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Sustainable business is about creating a system of business capable of sustaining itself indefinitely while enhancing the quality of peoples’ lives. The definition of good business is increasingly aligned with sustainable economic development, which is a growth strategy designed to deliver high marks not just on profitability but also on other performance metrics such as ecological system protection, human health, social equity and community cohesion. Never before has the need for promulgating sustainable business practices been more important.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The world's population will grow from 7.1 billion today to a staggering </span><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/1307011-population-census-united-nations-un-demographics-world-population-day-birthrate/" style="text-indent: 0.5in;" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">9.5 billion</span></a><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">&nbsp;by 2050. To feed 2.4 billion new mouths and deliver on the material and energy needs stemming from an increase in goods and services from $21 trillion to $56 trillion for an emerging global middle class requires that our ability to generate agricultural and industrial output &nbsp;increase dramatically. At the same time, resource use that neither permanently depletes existing natural capital nor overwhelms us with pollutants needs widespread adoption. However, companies that engage in sustainable business practices need not do so solely for the purpose of creating a better world, but can generate increased revenues and improved profitability as they create innovative products, services, and processes; gain access to new technologies and markets; engineer collaborative supply chain practices; and drive costs down through efficiency measures.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000;">Darden provides several opportunities for students to learn about the field through courses on sustainability, innovation, and entrepreneurship as well as clubs such as Net Impact and the Emerging Markets Development Club.</span></h3><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">While the adoption of sustainable business practices requires a different consciousness among business leaders, it also represents a unique opportunity for financial investors to capitalize on a new frontier of innovation. The precursor to sustainable investing was socially responsible investing which screened out “sin stocks” in the alcohol, tobacco and gambling industry. However, sustainable investing has evolved significantly since then. Today, in addition to these negative screens are rigorous positive, solution-focused criteria and the expectation that companies will outperform their competitors because of good financial, environmental, social and governance practices combined. An analysis of a company’s record on social issues reveals its true character and, we believe, is a significant indicator of&nbsp;its long-term financial viability. Data increasingly supports the proposition that companies with strong positive social and environmental policies often have lower turnover, higher productivity, better brand reputation and customer loyalty. On the governance front, characteristics such as transparency — to &nbsp;stakeholders and the public — and appreciation of the gains from employee diversity and ethical conduct throughout supply chains are associated with superior performance.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The $3 trillion in assets under management in sustainability-informed investment strategies (i.e. assets invested in companies with sustainable business practices) highlights that the process of alignment of investors’ goals with the concept of sustainability in business has begun in earnest.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000;">Darden Capital Management’s Rotunda Fund manages close to a million dollars of Darden’s endowment by investing in companies with sustainable business practices.&nbsp;</span></h3><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">However, sustainable investing is still not a mainstream investment philosophy. Dated assumptions that financial returns must be sacrificed if a firm seeks economic and social benefits for a broader set of stakeholders unfortunately are</span><span style="color: red; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">still prevalent. An increasing body of investment research, however, suggests that integrating economic, environmental and social considerations into traditional financial analysis offers investors a more comprehensive view of companies’ value creation potential and leads to better informed investment decisions. Thus, in our opinion, it is only a matter of time before sustainability metrics become a key part of any fundamental investment philosophy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Never before has it been so important to position our futures with companies poised for long-term, </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><u>sustainable</u></i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">growth. Many companies now employ sustainability frameworks and tools and as the overall business environment moves in this direction, business leaders in this field will benefit from early mover advantages and a wealth of institutional knowledge.</span><br /><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"></span><br /><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_6yw5TntZvs/UqcFjK-PI3I/AAAAAAAAAcY/JxKNemgmfeQ/s1600/Andrea-Larson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="100" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_6yw5TntZvs/UqcFjK-PI3I/AAAAAAAAAcY/JxKNemgmfeQ/s200/Andrea-Larson.jpg" width="76" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andrea Larson</td></tr></tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xm3PrlDk1do/UqcFeOW78RI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/V6_BTNIvL4k/s1600/2b98e84.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="100" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xm3PrlDk1do/UqcFeOW78RI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/V6_BTNIvL4k/s200/2b98e84.jpg" width="100" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rohan Poojara</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This article was co-authored by Andrea Larson, Associate Professor of Business Administration, and Rohan Poojara, a second-year student at Darden. Professor Larson teaches the Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship course at Darden and Rohan Poojara is the Senior Portfolio Manager for the Rotunda Fund and a Vice President in the Net Impact and Emerging Markets Development Clubs.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>&nbsp;</i><b>Bibliography:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;"></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Edward Kerschner and Naeema Huq, Asian Affluence: The Emerging 21<sup>st</sup> Century Middle Class, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney: <a href="http://www.morganstanleyfa.com/public/projectfiles/35257b34-b160-45e4-980d-8bca327db92b.pdf">http://www.morganstanleyfa.com/public/projectfiles/35257b34-b160-45e4-980d-8bca327db92b.pdf</a></li><li>Lu, Y.,&nbsp;Cui, Q., and&nbsp;Le, Y.&nbsp;(2013).&nbsp;”Turning Green to Gold in the Construction Industry: Fable or Fact?.”<i>&nbsp;J. Constr. Eng. Manage</i>.,139(8), 1026–1036: <a href="http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/%28ASCE%29CO.1943-7862.0000676">http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/%28ASCE%29CO.1943-7862.0000676</a></li><li>Fujii, H., Iwata, K., Kaneko, S. and Managi, S. (2013), Corporate Environmental and Economic Performance of Japanese Manufacturing Firms: Empirical Study for Sustainable Development. Bus. Strat. Env., 22:&nbsp;187–201. doi:&nbsp;10.1002/bse.1747:<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> </span><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bse.1747/abstract">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bse.1747/abstract</a></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">Morgan P. Miles,&nbsp;Jeffrey G. Covin, Environmental Marketing: A Source of Reputational, Competitive, and Financial Advantage, Journal of Business Ethics, 2000, Volume 23, Number 3, Page 299: </span><a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1006214509281#page-1">http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1006214509281#page-1</a></li><li>Judge, W. Q. and Douglas, T. J. (1998), Performance Implications of Incorporating Natural Environmental Issues into the Strategic Planning Process: An Empirical Assessment. Journal of Management Studies, 35:&nbsp;241–262. doi:&nbsp;10.1111/1467-6486.00092: <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-6486.00092/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&amp;userIsAuthenticated=false">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-6486.00092/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&amp;userIsAuthenticated=false</a></li><li>Ba, S., Lisic, L. L., Liu, Q. and Stallaert, J. (2013), Stock Market Reaction to Green Vehicle Innovation. Production and Operations Management, 22:&nbsp;976–990. doi:&nbsp;10.1111/j.1937-5956.2012.01387.x: <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1937-5956.2012.01387.x/abstract;jsessionid=7656587692797E099355CACF24111CC0.f02t01">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1937-5956.2012.01387.x/abstract;jsessionid=7656587692797E099355CACF24111CC0.f02t01</a></li><li>Konaar, Shameek and Cohen, Mark Does the Market Value Environmental Performance? The Review of Economics and Statistics: <a href="http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/00346530151143815">http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/00346530151143815</a></li><li><a href="http://link.springer.com/search?facet-author=%22Nelson+Areal%22"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Nelson Areal</span></a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://link.springer.com/search?facet-author=%22Maria+C%C3%A9u+Cortez%22"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Maria Céu Cortez</span></a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://link.springer.com/search?facet-author=%22Florinda+Silva%22"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Florinda Silva</span></a>, The conditional performance of US mutual funds over different market regimes: do different types of ethical screens matter? <a href="http://link.springer.com/journal/11408"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Financial Markets and Portfolio Management</span></a> December 2013,&nbsp;Volume 27,&nbsp;<a href="http://link.springer.com/journal/11408/27/4/page/1"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Issue 4</span></a>,&nbsp;pp 397-429: <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11408-013-0218-5">http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11408-013-0218-5</a></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-19364459266877442372013-12-05T09:51:00.001-08:002013-12-05T09:51:30.757-08:00TEDx Charlottesville: The Best of Us<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vf-xMbVvyvA/UqC8GzIaYcI/AAAAAAAAAb0/pmlLjkHH_2o/s1600/TEDx+Charlottesville.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vf-xMbVvyvA/UqC8GzIaYcI/AAAAAAAAAb0/pmlLjkHH_2o/s640/TEDx+Charlottesville.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />On November 15th, 2013, Charlottesville hosted it's first ever TEDx event. For those who are unfamiliar with TED, it is among the most popular conferences in the world where incredible speakers share art, technology and ideas to inspire their audience. TED has revolutionized the conference format, and <a href="http://www.ted.com/" target="_blank">TED videos</a> number in the millions.<br /><br />The TEDx is an independently organized event, and the <a href="http://www.tedxcharlottesville.com/#!tedxorganizers/c20es" target="_blank">team behind TEDx Charlottesville</a> included a number of Darden staff and faculty, as well as student volunteers. I spoke with one of the organizers, Lisa Stewart, who is Director of Darden's <a href="http://www.darden.virginia.edu/web/Institute-for-Business-in-Society/" target="_blank">Institute for Business in Society</a>, about her experience helping launch this event. It took almost a year of planning and a broad campaign that touched all parts of Charlottesville. However, the results were as expected: <b>Inspiring</b>.<br /><br />As a student volunteer I had a chance to attend some small part of the broader event. In the 2 short hours I sat in Paramount Theater, I heard an amazing performance by Charlottesville's own student sting orchestra. The school orchestra has played across the world, and their repertoire has influences that range from the classical to cajun. John Hunter who is a teacher at a Charlottesville public school, discussed a game he invented to challenge his students in a very unique way. The <a href="https://www.worldpeacegame.org/" target="_blank">World Peace Game</a>, has been converted into a documentary and the book is making waves in the education community. The audience was also treated to a speech from his former students on the impact of the game and of their teacher on their lives. John spoke at TED 2011 and his speech is embedded below. Who knew he was a Charlottesville native?<br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://embed.ted.com/talks/john_hunter_on_the_world_peace_game.html" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe><br /><br />I can go on and on, but will still fall woefully short of sharing what inspires. Its why we need events such as these. I'm sure that even at Darden there are these stories that exist in the ether. There are stories that will inspire and challenge us, and we only need to create the space for them to be shared. I think that is why our clubs exist. That is why we should conferences, classes and speakers. If we can inspire each others, I believe that is how we change each other, and thus the world.<br /><br />If you have time, check out the full livestream of the event. You might have to skip around a bit to find different speakers, but it will be well worth the time. I had a chance to listen to 2 Darden professors speak (Ed Freeman and Martin Davidson) and seeing them on stage reminded me of the privilege of having them in our classrooms. It reminds me that we are surrounded by special people, and in the 1 or 2 years we have at Darden, my hope is all of us can be inspired by those around us.<br /><br />You can check out the livestream of the event<a href="http://new.livestream.com/tedx/cville/videos/34874025" target="_blank"> <b>here</b></a>.George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-66320250733996712962013-12-04T12:40:00.000-08:002013-12-04T12:40:24.841-08:00BANGS Shoes Hannah Davis speaks at Darden<div style="text-align: center;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PvCXzD_KAKg?rel=0" width="640"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3><i><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">"Don't believe that winning is really everything. It's more important to stand for something. If you don't stand for something, what do you win?"<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>~ Lane Kirkland</i></div></span></i></h3><br />In late November we had the good fortune of connecting with Hannah Davis, who is founder of BANGS Shoes. Hannah was on a college campus tour and was speaking at main grounds, when we were lucky to have her join us for a lunch session.<br /><br />You can check out our interview with Hannah Davis in our follow-on article.<br /><br />Learn more about BANGS at the links below.<br /><br /><h3>| &nbsp;<a href="http://www.bangsshoes.com/" target="_blank">Website</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/standonissues" target="_blank">&nbsp;Facebook</a>&nbsp; | &nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/BangsShoes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>&nbsp; | &nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/bangs" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;| &nbsp;<a href="http://www.roozt.com/BANGS-Shoes/index.html" target="_blank">Roozt</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;|</h3><br /><b>Articles about BANGS:</b><br /><a href="http://coladaily.com/2013/10/29/bangs-shoes-founder-hanna-davis-mixes-fashion-charity/" target="_blank">BANGS shoes founder Hannah Davis mixes fashion, humanitarianism</a>&nbsp;-<i>&nbsp;ColaDaily.com</i><br /><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/not-if-but-interview-bangs-shoes-hannah-12038484.html" target="_blank">Not 'If' but 'When': Interview with BANGS Shoes' Hannah Davis</a>&nbsp;-&nbsp;<i>Yahoo Voices</i><br /><a href="http://www.valleymagazinepsu.com/bangs-shoes-mixing-fashion-with-a-social-cause/" target="_blank">BANGS Shoes: Mixing Fashion with a Social Cause</a>&nbsp;-&nbsp;<i>Valley PSU</i><br /><i><br /></i><i><br /></i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UM88AQE5oks/Up9nnNAb-EI/AAAAAAAAAbo/T0TdkBkIONE/s1600/BANGS-Shoes-Edited-Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="116" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UM88AQE5oks/Up9nnNAb-EI/AAAAAAAAAbo/T0TdkBkIONE/s200/BANGS-Shoes-Edited-Image.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><i><br /></i><i><br /></i>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-26920478014962268272013-11-26T09:56:00.000-08:002013-11-26T10:16:43.732-08:00Dinner & Ping-Pong with the Fairchilds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lVEzPiuFUp4/UpThK8QTkCI/AAAAAAAAAbI/hlDQ_40LOtQ/s1600/Table-Tennis-banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lVEzPiuFUp4/UpThK8QTkCI/AAAAAAAAAbI/hlDQ_40LOtQ/s640/Table-Tennis-banner.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />30 minutes till everyone arrives and I'm scrambling to get our apartment cleaned. Despite being in our late twenties, we still are very much college-students in both heart and habit. Today is our 2nd Faculty Dinner and we are excited to open up our place for an evening with a small group of EMDC students and Professor Fairchild and his family.<br /><br />Dinner would consist of a trio of eggplant parmesan, a basked zucchini, squash and mushroom penne, and a spaghetti bolognese. We paired that with a garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette and baked garlic bread. I can't overstate the magnitude of our achievement in saying that we did not provide pizza for dinner. I have many skills, but hosting is not one of them.<br /><br />The conversation was slow to start, as these conversations often are. But slowly a comfortable candor emerges. The walls start to drop and all types of interesting conversation start to pop around the room. Someone is talking about education opportunities in China and in a different room a group of students and faculty are brainstorming the challenges an AirBNB business based in Brazilian favelas would face. Our youngest guests, Professor Fairchild's two boys have commandeered the ping-pong table and are engaged in a vigorous game with 2 Darden SY students.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WtpmVruOeDc/UpLHRGVrn4I/AAAAAAAAAas/hA1jPyW6-IE/s1600/2013-11-19+22.08.09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WtpmVruOeDc/UpLHRGVrn4I/AAAAAAAAAas/hA1jPyW6-IE/s640/2013-11-19+22.08.09.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We remembered to take one picture with a few guests at the end of the night.</td></tr></tbody></table>I wonder what our guests got out of the evening. In some ways, the event was chaotic and meandering. There was no set topic of discussion, no format or clear time frame. It was simply a dinner, drinks and a game. It's tempting to set an agenda for such a meeting; to delineate the bounds of the engagement. But for those of us who have sat in Professor Fairchild's Business in Ethics class, or have met for group dinners to discuss our readings, we know that valuable conversation doesn't follow an agenda. It is about setting up the moment, mixing together the ingredients (a diverse set of people) and then letting go.<br /><br />I wish we had taken a few more pictures, but hopefully for those who attended, the evening was enjoyable. We genuinely regret that we have to cap such events and I want to use this space to sincerely apologize to those who we were unable to host. We try to keep the meetings small and will hope to have more in the future.<br /><br />Thanks to all who attended and thanks especially to the Fairchilds for sharing their evening with us.George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-8214737503264916512013-11-24T20:00:00.000-08:002013-11-24T20:09:59.297-08:00Darden Student Profiles: Reshaping Education in India<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Last year, I sat in on a speech by&nbsp;</span><a href="http://redwardfreeman.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #bf1414; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #990000;">Ed Freeman</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">&nbsp;where he shared about how to discover&nbsp;</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Inspiration</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">. A particularly important point he made is to look for inspiration among those around us. For Ed, inspiration came from within his family.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">As we think about the Darden Family, it seemed appropriate to look for inspiration within&nbsp;</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><i>our</i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">&nbsp;family. With that in mind, I'm excited to introduce Archana Rao to share a bit about her story.</span><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">-&nbsp;<b><i>CJ</i></b>&nbsp;(EMDC President)</div><br style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><div style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">*********************</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><div style="color: #606060;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XKOAPV9fF8Q/Uo5FqBta00I/AAAAAAAAAac/EEaMcnwz7nE/s1600/Archana+Rao.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XKOAPV9fF8Q/Uo5FqBta00I/AAAAAAAAAac/EEaMcnwz7nE/s200/Archana+Rao.JPG" width="133" /></a><b style="line-height: 18px;">Student:&nbsp;</b><span style="line-height: 18px;">Archana Rao</span></div><div style="color: #606060;"><i style="line-height: 18px;">Teacher &amp; Entrepreneur</i></div><div style="color: #606060;"><b style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #990000;">Mentor Me India</span></b></div><div style="color: #606060;"><br style="line-height: 18px;" /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060; line-height: 18px;"><b><i>Archana, in 2013 you helped launch a new program called MentorMe India through a pilot in Mumbai. Prior to that you were a teach in Teach for India and saw first hand the challenges of education in the dynamic landscape of urban India.</i></b><br /><b><i><br /></i></b><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060; line-height: 18px;"><h3><i><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;">What spurred the creation of Mentor Me India?</span></i></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 18px;">All through my Teach for India fellowship there was always one question that kept irking me- “Am I leaving my students with everything they need to succeed in life?” More often than not I was unsure of the answer. Yes, I had given them everything I could in the classroom and far more outside of it. But could they sustain their motivation and grow up to have the same opportunities that any other kid had to achieve anything that they wanted?</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4shIpcLC0Uc/UpLL5C_zIpI/AAAAAAAAAa8/GuY9Dc7MvQo/s1600/Mentee-Cohort.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4shIpcLC0Uc/UpLL5C_zIpI/AAAAAAAAAa8/GuY9Dc7MvQo/s320/Mentee-Cohort.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060; line-height: 18px;"><div style="text-align: right;"></div></div></div></div></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The Mumbai Cohort for the Pilot</span><br /> <span style="color: #666666;">Too many children in low-income communities in India do not reach their full potential. Often, even when these children have goals, the path to achieve them remains a mystery. Government schools are confined to providing literacy and basic academic input and do not have the capacity or mandate to provide the professional and cultural exposure and life-skills that are critical to success. Parents are often not educated and are too preoccupied with making ends meet to provide adequate support to children who are often first generation learners, children lack information about relevant resources to drive towards their goals, and struggle with social, behavioral and psychological obstacles.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"></span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"></span><span style="color: #666666;">Children needed more than just a teacher in their lives. They needed a mentor. This is when we decided to found <a href="http://mentormeindia.org/" target="_blank">Mentor Me India.</a></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><h3><i><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;">What was is like <b><u>launching</u>&nbsp;</b>Mentor Me India?</span></i></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 18px;">Whenever I heard about people launching organizations and companies, I always thought that they possessed qualities and skills that were way beyond your average person. But when we got the idea for MMI and started doing conference calls over phone across Harvard and India, we were extremely excited about the prospect seeing the idea come to life. At first, we were apprehensive about the response and the viability of the idea. But the more people we spoke to about the idea the more positive responses we got. We realized that there was definitely a need for mentorship in India.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">We started conceptualizing the idea, creating a business plan, making a project plan, deciding timelines for work streams, setting up appointments for partnerships and figuring out how to raise funds were some of the things that felt like natural next steps. Being in business school now, I know what each process is actually called in the start-up life cycle, but back then it felt like this is how we should start and proceed. We worked on the end to end process of conceptualization, business plan drafting, program development, mentor recruitment, advertising (website and promotional video design), and marketing, fundraising, and training mentors.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">As daunting as starting something new sounds, it was actually like taking a huge problem and breaking it down into smaller projects and tackling each one. That’s how we ended up starting Mentor Me India. </span><br /><br /></div></div><div style="color: #606060;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/d6FyQkcRK10?rel=0" width="640"></iframe> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #606060; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="color: #606060;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060; line-height: 18px;"><h3><i><span style="color: #b45f06;">How do you recognize mentees and how do filter mentors, what is the mentor/mentee ratio?</span></i></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 18px;">For Mentee recruitment, we partnered with Akanksha foundation runs municipal schools in low-income communities in Mumbai. Through a nonprofit partner liaison, we worked with the teachers to identify 30 girls between 9-12 years old who have high needs of a role model, supportive parents/guardians and who want to participate in the program.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><div style="color: #606060;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">For Mentor recruitment we partnered with large corporations based in Mumbai to call for interested and qualified female young professionals. Depending on the interest from corporations, in the pilot phase, we may recruit mentors through personal and alumni networks in addition to trying to secure corporate partnerships.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="color: #606060;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">We recruited Champions, from the Harvard community in the pilot phase and from other Ivy League graduate schools, to provide ongoing support to the relationship. Champions have experience in mentoring/teaching/working with children or otherwise be in a position to provide advice to the mentors (e.g. HGSE student with several years of experience as a Big Sister or a HBS student who is specifically paired with a young professional mentor interested in applying to business schools).&nbsp;</span></div><div style="color: #606060;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">We matched mentors, mentees and MMCs based on similar or complementary characteristics, experiences and interests.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060; line-height: 18px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u82bTQHGs0w/Uo5E63T01sI/AAAAAAAAAaU/bBc4ebPkmjU/s1600/Homepage91+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u82bTQHGs0w/Uo5E63T01sI/AAAAAAAAAaU/bBc4ebPkmjU/s320/Homepage91+(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3><i><span style="color: #b45f06;">What has been MMI's impact so far?</span></i></h3></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #606060; line-height: 18px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 18px;">In our pilot phase our mentors are serving 30 adolescent girls and their success stories stand proof of the mentorship model and its theory of change. We have achieved a lot of goodwill in social media and also among various organizations such as Akanksha Foundation, who we have partnered with for our pilot phase this summer.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 18px;">We have been hearing from our mentor-mentee pairs about the tremendous progress the pairs have made in building a trusting relationship. Jamini, who studies at a municipal school in Mumbai, has been regularly meeting with her mentor Akanksha who was a former teacher in Dharamshala at a school run by Dalai Lama’s sister. They have a great relationship already, but it was not easy in the beginning. There were some hurdles to be crossed with Jaimini’s parents who weren’t entirely convinced about the mentoring programme. But Akankasha felt that Jaimini was quite a distracted kid which really needed mentoring so she didn’t give up on her efforts.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 18px;">She can already see an improvement in Jaimini’s behavior. She’s more attentive and tends to listen to what her Didi tells her. She’s also helping more at home by doing quick and easy things, which makes her Mum happier. They are now planning on what they can do weekly to build Jaimini’s confidence. Akanksha and Jaimini will read stories together and enact it for a group of people at a restaurant. </span><br /><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="color: #606060;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #606060; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">*****************</span></span></div><div style="color: #606060;"><br /></div><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;">For more success stories visit our</span> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mentormeindia" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">Facebook page</span><span style="color: #cc0000;">&nbsp;</span></a><br /><div style="color: #606060;"><br /></div><div style="color: #606060;"><span style="color: #666666;">We are expanding our team and have found a lot of dedicated and passionate people who are working with us on the pilot phase in Mumbai. We have recruited a full time operations director in Mumbai and work remotely with her to address any pressing operational issues that may crop up during the pilot phase of the project. Currently we are measuring the impact of the mentor-mentee relations and will assess the expansion potential for the coming years for increased mentor-mentee pairs in 3 more schools in Mumbai serving 300 additional students.&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #606060;">Please visit our </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mentormeindia" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">Facebook page</span></a><span style="color: #606060;">&nbsp;and</span><span style="color: #990000;"> <a href="http://mentormeindia.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">website</span></a></span><span style="color: #606060;">&nbsp;to keep abreast with what has been happening at Mentor Me India. </span><br /><div style="color: #606060;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div></div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-84327960149305944512013-11-21T08:19:00.001-08:002013-11-21T08:19:14.033-08:00What George's Bistro has to do with Emerging Market Development<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cvqf9laJ69c/Uo4pioEgwPI/AAAAAAAAAY0/sXdyaCy7_5Q/s1600/BistroBoard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cvqf9laJ69c/Uo4pioEgwPI/AAAAAAAAAY0/sXdyaCy7_5Q/s320/BistroBoard.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Recently, I wrote a post for the Darden Admissions blog, describing the history and intent of George's Bistro. If you don't know what that is you can check out our post, but put simply it's a 24/7 food stand at Darden that accepts payments on honor. There is no cashier or camera and minimal security. All we have is a sign asking people to pay on their honor.<br /><br /><br />But, as President of EMDC and sponsor of the Bistro, I've often been asked a fair and pertinent question.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">What the hell does 24/7 food and honor payments have to do with emerging market development?</span><br /><br />I'll respond in two broad categories. The first is <b><u>academic</u></b> and the second is <b><u>esoteric</u></b>.<br /><br /><h3><b><i>First Reason - The Academic One</i></b></h3>I'll be honest in saying that the inception of the bistro had nothing to do with emerging markets. However, as we got more involved in the project, the leadership board found itself having to justify our involvement. The bistro was exciting, but if it had nothing to do with our mandate, we very well couldn't do it.<br /><br />So perhaps it is long overdue for us to share a bit about <b>why</b>&nbsp;we pursued George's Bistro.<br /><br />The basic assertion is that contextualizing a business to the norms of the community it serves, improves outcomes for both the business and the community.<br /><br /><b>The Business Case</b><br />Food retail is among the most basic and universal businesses on the planet. It sits at the origins of mercantilism and it is no accident that the cities of Asia, Latin America and Africa are filled with informal food carts, stands, marts and all matter of micro-business. Entrepreneurship is the beating heart of global development, and billions of dollars of global aid today are funneled into incubators, funds and micro-finance banks to spur locals to start businesses. As a club, we needed to understand and address entrepreneurship, and food retail seemed especially pertinent.<br /><br />However, it was the honor-payments that really tied it all together. Honor payments may be rare in corporate America, but they are a stable of the informal sector that operates in most developing markets. In fact, most of food retail in developing cities is often found in the "informal" sector, run by owners with little to none formal business education.<br /><br />A study in South Africa of informal food marts (hawkers and spazas) found that only 15% - 30% of business owners graduated high school with most dropping out after middle school. In a survey, over 60% of owners expressed a need for basic skills such as management, bookkeeping, marketing and sales. High functioning skills such as computer literacy, HR relations and credit control were simply not yet relevant.<br /><br />The fact is, businesses in the informal sector are looking for new business models to solve the basic logistical and management challenges they face. They struggle to hire and manage staff and control and run a business. Often, because they are operating on conventional and simple models, they incur high operating costs and volatile profitability. Furthermore, foreign capital comes with strings attached as these small businesses are forced to adopt western models of accounting and operation which may be ill-suited to their environment.<br /><br /><b>The Consumer Case<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TYU45tzScN8/Uo4t9oKE7cI/AAAAAAAAAZA/JY1ugHw4-b4/s1600/BistroFirst.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TYU45tzScN8/Uo4t9oKE7cI/AAAAAAAAAZA/JY1ugHw4-b4/s320/BistroFirst.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our very first customer</td></tr></tbody></table></b><br />There is also a consumer impact from ill-conceived business models. Food is the primary expenditure item for most of the developing world's population. The high cost of doing conventional retial is passed on to the consumer in the form of price inflation. In India, food retail prices are 5x the price at the farm and rising. The informal wholesale sector in Nairobi means families and small shopkeepers must travel miles across different markets to gain access to food.<br /><br />The food model is imposing a very real cost on human beings. We need to see if we are working with the right model. Plans are built based on assumptions of infrastructure and support that simply do not exist. Businesses must contextualize their model to the needs of their customer (be it diet, income or any other factor), as well as to the environment around them.<br /><br />Imagine if a business found a way to cut costs, and stabilize its prices. Stable food prices would lead to predictable budgeting for low income communities who would then be able to better save and invest disposable income.<br />Imagine if businesses could change the hours and locations in which they operated so that customers didn't have to waste time traveling to and fro. More free time for care-givers would improve childcare, increase working hours and boost incomes.<br />Imagine if business could improve the quality of the food they sold by operating at lower cost. Better food options would improve health and well being in the community, with higher calorie diets leading directly to social good.<br /><br /><b>The Opportunity</b><br />The point of George's Bistro is to illustrate the power of situating a business in the context of its community. Its the same reason Grameen Bank works so powerfully. Yunus was able to leverage the societal conventions of the communities he served to lend money without collateral or credit history. He realized that even poor individuals had a credit score in the community, undocumented and living in their reputation with their peers. If he could build a model where the community kept the borrower accountable, he would be able to manage credit risk. This allowed him to operate at costs far below any brick-mortar bank and lend at rates that seemed incredible. His model was fundamentally different and was, in a word, <b><span style="color: #990000;">"disruptive".</span></b><br /><br />The point is, contextualizing a business leads to better outcomes for the business owners (in this case the lending bank) and for its customers (in this case the poor).<br /><br />Likewise, because Darden is a community of honor, we have shaped the Bistro to leverage the norms and expectations of our community. We believe this is disruptive. Our business can stay open longer, sell more and enjoy higher margins as a result of honor payments. Students and staff have greater access to lower priced goods and enjoy the psychological benefits of paying on their honor.<br /><br />This is why ideas like George's Bistro matter to the world, if only in that they remind us to see the power of culture and community to shape a business and improve lives.<br /><br /><h3><i>Second Reason - The Esoteric One</i></h3><div>After the first pilot, I still had my doubts about whether this all made sense. Did I really want to spend my final year at Darden on this idea. In October, I called my dad who has spent most of his career working in various Asian countries.</div><div><br />I asked him if he had ever seen honor payments at work in India, Indonesia, Thailand or any other country he had visited. What he shared was eerily remarkable.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>My dad did his MBA at the Xavier Labor Relations Institute (XLRI) in India, a near-top-tier program (below the IMs). While there, in order to make money, he opened up a food stand. They sold drinks and Indian snacks around the clock. Because they didn't have the money or time to man the stall, they left a notepad for students to write down what they had taken. They would then pay a local they had hired to go around and collect money every weekend. The fact is, keeping someone there all day was way too expensive.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>I had found my example of honor payments closer to home, but I had also found another form of validation. It seems, almost 20 years later, I had started an honor-based food stand during my MBA program... just like my Dad did. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and the universe is full of strange coincidences. Who could make this stuff up?<br /><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F6Xy853QBpU/Uo4vfmoLmxI/AAAAAAAAAZM/cUyQ8GYaQMY/s1600/grameen-650.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F6Xy853QBpU/Uo4vfmoLmxI/AAAAAAAAAZM/cUyQ8GYaQMY/s320/grameen-650.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Opening of Grameen America</td></tr></tbody></table><b>The Journey of Ideas</b><br />The story also pointed to another important misconception about development.<br /><br />It's tempting to think of emerging market development as the transfer of ideas and insights from developed markets to the developing world. The stories of telecom development, renewable energy and mass retail all point to developed-world ideas proliferating the emerging markets.<br /><br />However, the reverse also exists and is indeed powerful. Honor payments are a norm in developing economies but are disruptive here. Micro finance was born in the rural heart of Bangladesh but over a decade has migrated to the dilapidated cities of US and Europe. As we wrestle to solve the challenges facing under-developed economies, I believe we will find ideas and solutions that will reshape business around the world.<br /><br />The next disruption, the next earth-shaking idea, may not be found in a research lab or board room. It maybe found in the dusty street corner, in that part of town that isn't safe to enter, in that city that just a few years ago was a village.&nbsp;</div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-54710326742446775732013-11-13T09:41:00.000-08:002013-11-13T09:42:14.467-08:00Announcing EMDC Ninjas - Part Two<h3>What is a Ninja?</h3><div>The EMDC Ninja program is a FY &amp; SY offering where students state upfront a goal or project they would like to work on with the support of the club. If a student successfully completes this project or&nbsp;<b style="font-style: italic;">"mission"</b>, then they are awarded a Ninja certificate at the end of the year.<br /><br /></div><div><h4><b>Why do it?</b></h4></div><div>Its a chance to make a directed and tangible difference over the course of the year at a project of your choosing. As a FY its also a chance to peel back the layers at Darden and understand the school's workings and how to make things happen at Darden.<br /><br /></div><div><h4><b>What is a "Ninja type"?</b></h4></div><div>There are 3 types of missions and Ninja applicants select the one they prefer at the start of the year.<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9gHzT0Yap1k/UnfUMoYy0zI/AAAAAAAAAWc/TcNkL-LZT5Q/s1600/Square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9gHzT0Yap1k/UnfUMoYy0zI/AAAAAAAAAWc/TcNkL-LZT5Q/s200/Square.jpg" width="40" /></a><b>SQUARE:&nbsp;</b>This mission is all about helping the club on an on-going basis. It allows the applicant to understand the day-to-day workings of the club.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GSNF8zS6OFc/UnfU1p5aOGI/AAAAAAAAAWk/HXjyE1s2gJ0/s1600/Circle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GSNF8zS6OFc/UnfU1p5aOGI/AAAAAAAAAWk/HXjyE1s2gJ0/s200/Circle.jpg" width="40" /></a><b>CIRCLE:</b>&nbsp;Candidates select a year-long initiative to work on at their won pace. These may include a conference, a program or some such initiative.</div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zHr_qfA0Cfc/UnfWhCDgFQI/AAAAAAAAAWw/VVyHhVIluk8/s1600/Star.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zHr_qfA0Cfc/UnfWhCDgFQI/AAAAAAAAAWw/VVyHhVIluk8/s200/Star.jpg" width="40" /></a><b>STAR:</b>&nbsp;This is pure entrepreneurism. The candidate forms their own project and that is somehow relevant to EMDC's mission.</div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3>Introducing 3 of our 6 new EMDC Ninja Candidates:</h3><div><a href="http://dardenemdc.blogspot.com/2013/11/announcing-emdc-ninjas-part-one.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Check out the other 3 Ninja's Here.</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--0n4h9GXu1g/UoO2qjmcNUI/AAAAAAAAAYM/nV6ynC_qYxA/s1600/Grant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--0n4h9GXu1g/UoO2qjmcNUI/AAAAAAAAAYM/nV6ynC_qYxA/s200/Grant.jpg" width="198" /></a><b>Grant Hou:</b><br /><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">Before Darden, I was a business developer for Siemens Industry, Inc., where I was responsible for our export business to East and Southeast Asia. During my time with Siemens, I was able to travel throughout the greater Asia region. One of my biggest takeaways from that work experience was that I noticed the gap between the developed and emerging economies in the region and the level of impact that big corporations can have on developing nations.<br /><br />Though I studied engineering, I have always had an interest in world history, cultural, and social sciences. As an undergrad, I spent four semesters abroad and earned an supplemental International Plan degree, a minor in Mandarin, and certificate in East Asian Affairs. Outside of work and study, I had little engagement with emerging markets, but I have been involved in community involvement through work and volunteer. One of the things that I would like to bridge at Darden is combining local community impact into global impact.<br /><br />As an EMDC Ninja, my goals for this year are to identify a Global Field Experience to source for our class next year. I will also work to help support the broader EMDC initiatives and continue to combine my interests in social impact and emerging markets.</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b>Ranjit Damodaran:</b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dUKdbaNZLn4/UoO3zhlUijI/AAAAAAAAAYY/nVrRPxBP-cs/s1600/Ranjit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dUKdbaNZLn4/UoO3zhlUijI/AAAAAAAAAYY/nVrRPxBP-cs/s200/Ranjit.jpg" width="200" /></a>I spent eight years with a leading technology company and built a broad base of experience through roles spanning telecom, client services, capacity management, and operations. Outside of work, I also spent time as a teacher and counselor for high-risk children, identifying means of fostering learning, and creating opportunities for their continual development.<br /><br />Having worked extensively in India, I am a strong believer in the growing potential of emerging markets in the global economy. I hope to use my Darden experience to connect my long-term interests in social equity and business development. Through my work with the EMDC, I also hope to make future ‘leaders’ be better prepared to make a difference in emerging economies. </div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_jJjXFBOiII/UoO5G6BVfLI/AAAAAAAAAYk/qemT15Tm0yw/s1600/Yichen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_jJjXFBOiII/UoO5G6BVfLI/AAAAAAAAAYk/qemT15Tm0yw/s200/Yichen.jpg" width="200" /></a><b>Yichen Feng:</b></div><div style="margin: 0px;">I was an East Asian Studies and Visual Arts student in college, which naturally led me to become an analyst on the internal VC portfolio at Cisco Systems in the Valley. My job focused on managing an investment portfolio of opportunities in the BRICM countries – specifically I covered MENA and China.<br /><br />As part of EMDC, I want to focus on economic development and increase awareness of various models that have seen successful in communities abroad. Financial independence is what I believe will lead to more prosperous and healthy lives. Right before Darden, I was on the founding team of Teach for Egypt.</div></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-9527768971600086932013-11-09T10:28:00.000-08:002013-11-09T10:28:12.148-08:00Lunch with Hannah Davis (CEO Founder of BANGS Shoes)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ab7iRBj1x_w/Un59EvKElBI/AAAAAAAAAXw/9Tq3I5FTRa0/s1600/Attachment_1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ab7iRBj1x_w/Un59EvKElBI/AAAAAAAAAXw/9Tq3I5FTRa0/s640/Attachment_1.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><b>Lunch with Hannah</b><br /><i>Thursday November 14th ; 1:30 - 2:30 pm</i><br /><i>Classroom 130</i><br /><i><br /></i>Why BANGS?<br /><br />In 2009, Hannah traveled to Jiangsu Province in China to teach English. While there, she noticed that the workers and farmers wore a certain type of shoe. Wanting to make a difference in the world she saw, she began work on a company focused on social growth through retail.<br /><br />BANGS is derived from the phonetic spelling of a Chinese word. Spelled B-A-N-G, it means <b>"help"</b><br /><b><br /></b>Today, BANGS invests in six causes with non-profit partners across the world. The work spans across healthcare, education, finance and entrepreneurship.<br /><br />Join Hannah to learn her story and what it looks like to be a mid-twenties entrepreneur set on making the world better.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CaCzDjC0tJ8/Un5-Wi63IOI/AAAAAAAAAX8/R8LyXna5a5M/s1600/bangs-info.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="388" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CaCzDjC0tJ8/Un5-Wi63IOI/AAAAAAAAAX8/R8LyXna5a5M/s640/bangs-info.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-3524711597561653992013-11-04T09:30:00.001-08:002013-11-13T09:42:59.834-08:00Announcing EMDC Ninjas - Part One<h3>What is a Ninja?</h3><div>The EMDC Ninja program is a FY &amp; SY offering where students state upfront a goal or project they would like to work on with the support of the club. If a student successfully completes this project or <b style="font-style: italic;">"mission"</b>, then they are awarded a Ninja certificate at the end of the year.<br /><br /></div><div><h4><b>Why do it?</b></h4></div><div>Its a chance to make a directed and tangible difference over the course of the year at a project of your choosing. As a FY its also a chance to peel back the layers at Darden and understand the school's workings and how to make things happen at Darden.<br /><br /></div><div><h4><b>What is a "Ninja type"?</b></h4></div><div>There are 3 types of missions and Ninja applicants select the one they prefer at the start of the year.<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9gHzT0Yap1k/UnfUMoYy0zI/AAAAAAAAAWc/TcNkL-LZT5Q/s1600/Square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9gHzT0Yap1k/UnfUMoYy0zI/AAAAAAAAAWc/TcNkL-LZT5Q/s200/Square.jpg" width="40" /></a><b>SQUARE:&nbsp;</b>This mission is all about helping the club on an on-going basis. It allows the applicant to understand the day-to-day workings of the club.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GSNF8zS6OFc/UnfU1p5aOGI/AAAAAAAAAWk/HXjyE1s2gJ0/s1600/Circle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GSNF8zS6OFc/UnfU1p5aOGI/AAAAAAAAAWk/HXjyE1s2gJ0/s200/Circle.jpg" width="40" /></a><b>CIRCLE:</b>&nbsp;Candidates select a year-long initiative to work on at their won pace. These may include a conference, a program or some such initiative.</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zHr_qfA0Cfc/UnfWhCDgFQI/AAAAAAAAAWw/VVyHhVIluk8/s1600/Star.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zHr_qfA0Cfc/UnfWhCDgFQI/AAAAAAAAAWw/VVyHhVIluk8/s200/Star.jpg" width="40" /></a><b>STAR:</b>&nbsp;This is pure entrepreneurism. The candidate forms their own project and that is somehow relevant to EMDC's mission.</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3>Introducing 3 of our 6 new EMDC Ninja Candidates:</h3><div><a href="http://dardenemdc.blogspot.com/2013/11/announcing-emdc-ninjas-part-two.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Check out the other 3 Ninja's Here.</a><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-waeHRA2QdRU/UnfX0qOIweI/AAAAAAAAAW8/47IMd92Ots8/s1600/Ryan+v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-waeHRA2QdRU/UnfX0qOIweI/AAAAAAAAAW8/47IMd92Ots8/s200/Ryan+v2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div><b>Ryan Lowe:</b><br />Before Darden, I worked in marketing for FMC Corporation, a specialty chemical company, where a significant portion of my responsibility centered on leading commercial development initiatives for FMC’s food ingredients business in Latin America.<br /><br />Although American, I grew up in Europe, an experience that inspired me to continue exploring new cultures and places. Working in Latin America, I became motivated and passionate about not only the benefits FMC’s products could have in improving food quality and safety, but also for the added complexities and nuances involved in doing business in emerging markets.<br /><br />As an EMDC ninja, I plan on furthering my interests in exploring and positively impacting emerging markets by helping to develop Global Field Experience programs and supporting initiatives to broaden EMDC’s reach in the Darden community and beyond.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OT1ZELKvKkQ/UnfYZhyXiuI/AAAAAAAAAXE/Nekjp4vShws/s1600/Akansha+v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OT1ZELKvKkQ/UnfYZhyXiuI/AAAAAAAAAXE/Nekjp4vShws/s200/Akansha+v2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><b>Akansha Jain:</b><br />I am a first-year MBA student at the Darden Graduate School of Business. Prior to Darden, I was a manager in a mid-sized manufacturing firm. There, I laid down the IT landscape and MIS to improve process efficiency.<br /><br />Prior to that, I was a consultant at Deloitte LLP where I delivered customized customer relationship management solutions to clients. Having stayed in India and worked in the local industry, I recognize the immense scope of development besides the challenges in emerging markets.<br /><br />I hope to leverage my background, combined with wealth of resources at Darden to learn more about them. I also hope to pursue activities outside of class that add value to the Darden experience for my peers.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-twZz2YSsFWQ/UnfY_KvZDCI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/4JDw44iNGVA/s1600/Baker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-twZz2YSsFWQ/UnfY_KvZDCI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/4JDw44iNGVA/s200/Baker.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><b>Baker Woods:</b><br />I came to Darden having recently completed service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay, South America, where I worked in a rural community building public health resources and awareness while also spending time on gender issues and small business development.<br /><br />Before that, I worked in academia and for an NGO in Cambridge, Mass, focusing on international indigenous human rights and the provision of HIV medication globally. My undergraduate years were spent at Wesleyan University, where I majored in economics while also playing on the varsity lacrosse team and studying abroad at the London School of Economics.<br /><br />Born and raised in Connecticut to a mom partially raised in Thailand and a father born in Japan, I am an avid New York sports fan, love sharing a bottle (or two) of malbec with friends, and am seemingly always planning my next trip down to South America. My passion in emerging markets revolves around the role private sector reforms and ideas have in transforming development such as through public-private partnerships and impact investment.</div><div><br /></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9153340002678499641.post-29865863698225071762013-11-01T08:03:00.000-07:002013-11-01T08:03:18.083-07:00Global Field Elective Information Session<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qVDM4W600Sw?rel=0" width="640"></iframe></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;"><i>"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience."</i></span><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;"><i>~ Eleanor Roosevelt</i></span></div><br />The Global Field Elective is one of the most exciting new programs being developed at Darden. Initiated last year with programs in Nicaragua and Zambia, this year has seen a host of new opportunities.<br /><br />3 new programs were launched in the fall with students traveling to <b>Tunisia, Sweden and South Africa</b>.<br /><br />The program has a new DardenPortal site with applications for the 4 new programs on offer, with applications due <b><u>Monday, November 4th.</u></b><br /><br /><ul><li>Indonesia - with ANJ, a commodities business with a sago plantation on the island of Papa</li><li>Turkey - with ETI, a chocolatier looking to expand sales into the US</li><li>India - with Freeset, an apparel manufacture looking to develop a marketing strategy for the US</li><li>Egypt - with Mediawave, a technology start-up seeking help on their business.</li></ul><div>These are amazing opportunities but there is more to come. More importantly, there is an opportunity for students to be involved in developing their own GFE projects, connecting with firms and developing institutional relationships that will serve both the companies and the Darden student body. <b>Andrew Kritzer (President of DTC)</b>&nbsp;shared his experience helping source a project with Swedish firm Memoto.</div><div><br /></div><div>Check out the video as students share about the companies they helped source, or their current experience as part of a GFE.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you have any questions, feel free to send in through comments and we'll try to respond in a timely manner.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8VIEtoJqw3E/UnPBSoq1BOI/AAAAAAAAAWM/7WS4z20Ga8Y/s1600/GFE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="6" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8VIEtoJqw3E/UnPBSoq1BOI/AAAAAAAAAWM/7WS4z20Ga8Y/s200/GFE.jpg" width="10" /></a></div><br /></div>George Ballhttps://plus.google.com/115925877470954036803noreply@blogger.com0